The Associated Press Altoona’s Steve Taneyhill was a star quarterback at South Carolina in the 1990s.

A University of South Carolina legend has left us.

Former Gamecocks quarterback, high school football coach and entrepreneur Steve Taneyhill passed away Sunday after a long bout with cancer. He was 52.

Through the years there have been transformational moments where the South Carolina football program has collided with a charismatic change agent that facilitates a renewed confidence, inspires belief provides memorable moments and becomes part of the fabric of life as a Gamecock.

Most of the time, it has been a coach. Joe Morrison, who coached South Carolina from 1983 until his tragic death in 1989 was one. He’s why we have 2001. He’s why we wear black. He led the 1984 year of Black Magic and the Fire Ants. Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier were two more recently. You could go back to the days of Paul Dietzel as well in this category.

Carolina has had a lot of great players through the years, but Taneyhill is the one that stands out that fits that category within Gamecock lore because when things looked bleak, he rejected it, refused to give into it and led his teammates and all of Gamecock Nation out of it.

Life for South Carolina football in the Southeastern conference was miserable for a brief moment. Then, a freshman from Altoona, Pa., entered the lineup and it was pure magic.

I was 15 years old in 1992 and as diehard of a Gamecock as there was. The SEC move was exciting to me and being young and a bit uninformed (the newspapers and talk shows did not prepare you like the Internet does now) I was excited about Wright Mitchell taking over for Bobby Fuller for some reason.

Mitchell started the first four games, Blake Williamson started the fifth as Carolina got destroyed at Alabama and then Taneyhill was named the starter after an off week which featured a player revolt as the team had an 0-5 record.

The brash, long-haired young quarterback had an unwavering sense of belief that spread throughout the fanbase. Suddenly, South Carolina played with confidence.

The Gamecocks got their first SEC win ever his first start, beating No. 15 Mississippi State, 21-6. There was a win at Vanderbilt, a thrilling 24-23 win against Tennessee that got Vols coach Johnny Majors fired, a not so thrilling 14-13 win against Louisiana Tech, the closest loss in The Swamp to future Gamecock head coach Steve Spurrier, 14-9… and then came the Clemson.

Carolina snapped a four-game losing streak to the Tigers with a 24-13 win on an overcast Saturday to cap a 5-6 season that looked to be all but lost five games in.

Taneyhill just had the it factor. His beliefs became everyone else’s.

He would also be the first to tell you that that season’s team actually had one of the better defenses the program would see during the 1990s, but his play and swagger inspired that side of the ball as well.

At a time when the program seemed hopeless, he gave us all hope.

Taneyhill would go on to a record setting career with Carolina and led the Gamecocks to their first-ever bowl win during the 1994 season.

South Carolina became bowl eligible with perhaps a more notorious win at Clemson, a 33-7 shellacking that I happened to be in the stands for. Then, the Gamecocks won the Carquest Bowl in what is now Hard Rock Stadium, 24-21, over West Virginia.

Taneyhill is the all-time South Carolina leader in career passing touchdowns (62) and pass completions (753). He is No. 2 in career passing yards with 8,782 and is tied for third all-time with 20 wins as the Gamecocks starting quarterback. He also holds the single season record for passing touchdowns with 29 (1995).

His 39 completions against East Carolina in 1994 and his 38 completions against Mississippi State in 1995 rank No. 1 and 2 all-time for completions in a game at Carolina. In that same game against the Pirates in 1994, he set the program record for pass attempts in a game with 58 and that still stands as well.

The on-field records and performances will never be forgotten without a doubt, but it will always be more about what Taneyhill meant in the grand scheme of things to this program than anything.

I did not get a chance to know Taneyhill personally.

I talked to him professionally when Shi Smith was a recruit coming out of Union County High School where he was the head coach. I had a few conversations with him at the annual NIL wing eating contest at the CB18 Bar and Grill in Five Points, which he co-owned with our mutual friend Jeff (Cocksby90).

He was more than willing to help with anything that supported his alma mater. We had him on Inside the Gamecocks several times, including once this past season. He was always generous with his time and told it exactly how he saw it, which was refreshing.

I wish that I had maybe gotten to know him better, but recently I think I have said that far too often. What I do know is what he meant to the people, university, football program and state I will always love.

He was a titan in that space.

Godspeed to a Gamecock legend that continues to allow us all to keep believing. We lost another good one, folks.

He should forever be upheld as charismatic, transformational figure that helped us all believe … just when we needed it.

Editor’s note: JC Shurburtt is owner of TheBigSpur.com, part of the 247 sports network that covers South Carolina athletics. This story is reprinted with his permission.