From the 2008 University of South Carolina spring media guide...
"The Gamecocks have one of the nation's top returning placekickers in senior Ryan Succop. Succop, who has been blessed with a strong leg, was an honorable mention All-SEC pick in 2007 after earning second team honors in 2006. A candidate for the Lou Groza Award, which recognizes the nation's top placekicker, Succop is 16-for-17 in his career from inside 40 yards and owns two field goals of 50-plus yards. His career best was a 55-yarder against Vanderbilt in 2006. That is also the second-longest in school history. Succop has handled the punting chores in addition to the placekicking duties for the past two seasons and could do both again this season. Succop's average was down a bit last fall to 41.6 yards per punt after averaging 43.7 yards in 2006, but he also logged twice as many punts (56) in 2007 as he did in '06 (29)."
This will be Ryan's third season as the kicking specialist for the Gamecocks. After handling mainly kick-offs in his freshman year he won the starting job as both placekicker and punter for South Carolina during pre-season practice in 2006. His first game that season, against Mississippi State, was a memorable after he nailed three field goals, averaged nearly 49 yards per punt, and even showed his athleticism when he avoided a potential blocked punt by rushing for 16 yards and a crucial 1st down.
Later in the season he came agonizingly close to personally derailing Florida's national championship run in 2006 when Jarvis Moss blocked his 48-yard field goal
attempt in the final seconds to preserve a 17-16 Gator victory in Gainesville. Florida had already lost once and a second loss, especially an upset at home, would have ended any chance of reaching the BCS championship game. Earlier in the contest Ryan had nailed a 55-yard field goal which might also have provided the winning margin for the Gamecocks but it was waved off due to a procedure penalty against South Carolina. Moss was able to block the final kick after defensive tackles Ray McDonald and Steve Harris pushed the South Carolina line back, allowing Moss to see the ball as it was being kicked.
“Steve and Ray did all the work, and I just jumped my highest,” Moss said. “That was the biggest play of my career.”
Ryan scored 85 points for the Gamecocks in 2006, which made him the team's scoring leader. The 85 points was also the third-highest single-season total in school history.
Ryan was a semi-finalist for the Lou Groza Award in 2006 and is a strong candidate for that award again this season. He has also been named to Lindy's 2008 first team pre-season All-SEC team. He currently projects as a 6th-round NFL draft choice but that certainly could go higher with another great season.
Ryan graduated from Hickory High in 2005. During his four years as Hickory's varsity kicking specialist Succop played in games against fellow SEC stars such as Florida's starting middle linebacker, Brandon Spikes (Crest '05) and Tennessee's starting wide receiver Josh Briscoe (Burns '05) as well as Clemson starting cornerback Crezdon Butler (Asheville '06).
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