Here We Go: Rivalry Week
It’s the most wonderful time of the year for college football fans.
No, stockings aren’t yet hung by the chimney with care, but South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp hasn’t forgotten the 56 points that were hung up on his team last season.
It’s rivalry week in the Palmetto State.
Like the past two seasons, the stakes are high for the Tigers as they look to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive and winning out would put them in.
Again, the Gamecocks are playing spoiler and nothing would put a stamp on Mushchamp’s tenure so far at South Carolina like a win over the in-state rival.
Clemson is looking for its fourth-straight win over South Carolina, which Clemson has done eight other times in the series against South Carolina.
How quickly times have changed.
Five years ago, it was a completely different story, and the roles were almost reversed entirely.
The Gamecocks won five in a row over Dabo Swinney, who couldn’t seem to get over the hump when both teams were considered top programs in the country.
In 2012, the Gamecocks won in Death Valley with backup quarterback Dylan Thompson who carved up Clemson’s defense for 310 passing yards and three touchdowns.
In 2013, the real nightmare ensued as Clemson went into Williams-Brice Stadium as arguably the better team. Six turnovers for Clemson later, South Carolina fans left the stadium with a fifth consecutive win in the series, which had never been done before by either team.
"We hurt ourselves, for the most part, every time we play these guys," Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd said after he finished his career 0-4 against South Carolina.
It wasn’t that long ago that winning that final game of the regular season was the most significant thing looming over Clemson’s head.
The problem for South Carolina was after that game in 2013, Clemson continued to get better while the Gamecocks completely regressed.
Exit Steve Spurrier and enter Deshaun Watson.
Watson led Clemson to three-straight victories over South Carolina after he vowed to never lose to them while he was at Clemson. The first came while playing on a torn ACL.
"We're not going anywhere,” running back Wayne Gallman said after the 35-17 win in 2014. He knew that this was Clemson’s time to string together a number of consecutive victories of its own.
He was right.
Three years later and Clemson is coming off of a 56-7 win over the Gamecocks. A win that has fueled quarterback Jake Bentley to “never again” be out-worked by the Tigers.
“Our big thing is never again will we be out-worked, never again will we be out-competed in a game like that,” Bentley said over the summer. “At the end of the game, everyone knew that they weren’t that much better than us or better than us at all.”
While Bentley is using last year’s game as motivation for his team, Clemson senior Dorian O’Daniel said that he’s been pleased with how quickly Clemson has turned the tables on South Carolina in recent years.
“Just how we have responded in my time here against Carolina,” O’Daniel said after the 61-3 win against The Citadel. “Pretty successful. This being my last year, it’s a lot of intensity. It’s a rivalry game. It’s understood, don’t got to be explained.”
“There’s going to be a lot of high emotions, but emotions don’t win the game. Executing the game plan and playing fast and physical do.”
All eyes will be on Kelly Bryant in Columbia, who will be starting his first rivalry game against the Gamecocks.
The junior from Calhoun Falls, South Carolina knows how much this game means to people in the state.
“I’m an in-state kid, and all the in-state fans are going to be looking at this game,” Bryant said. “No matter what side you are on – Clemson or South Carolina – this is what we come here to play for.”
The Gamecocks have improved this season coming into the game with an 8-3 record while it is unfair to say 10-1 Clemson has fallen off even with so many key pieces to last year’s championship run gone.
Both teams come in motivated by results in recent years. South Carolina looks to right the ship after the blowout and three straight losses to Clemson, but Tiger fans still have not forgotten the “five-bombs” in photos and the 2,189 days of torture they had to endure until Clemson finally won again.
Swinney usually lets players take the night to enjoy a victory before getting back to work, but O’Daniel was already focused on what’s next immediately after the win Saturday afternoon.
“The page is already turned,” O’Daniel said with a slight grin.
Here we go.