Darkness and The 12th Man: A Look at the History of Clemson and Virginia Tech

Clemson and Virginia Tech will meet for the 35th time on Saturday, and have a history that stretches all the way back to 1900. The Tigers, who were led by John Heisman, would win the first meeting between the two programs 12-5. But it was the way in which the Tigers would get that first ever win that was interesting, and kicked off an intriguing rivalry between the two schools as Clemson Historian Sam Blackman explains.

“What’s so significant about this game, they played it in Charlotte… and the Virginia Tech captain requested that the game be stopped because his players could not see well enough to play because of darkness. I’m sure that will be the only time in this series a game will be stopped because of darkness unless there’s a power failure or something like that.”

What is so interesting about the Virginia Tech captain asking for the game to be stopped is that the Hokies were actually trailing at the time, says Blackman.

“They were behind, so you would think they would want to keep playing, but I guess he just felt like, we’ll just say Clemson won this game today because we just can’t see the ball and just can’t see well enough to play.”

That game would help the Tigers reach a 6-0 record, their first undefeated season in school history, and helped them capture the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association title. But this story of darkness wasn’t the only significant game in Clemson and Virginia Tech history, as one game in 1980 actually helped mold the college football world.

“One game that really sticks out in my mind was in 1980. It was homecoming at Clemson, and as you can imagine, the crowd was very, very loud,” says Blackman. “Obed Ariri kicked a field goal in the fourth quarter to make it 13-7, Clemson was winning. Virginia Tech drove down to the Clemson one yard line in the fourth quarter. On the first try, on first and goal from the one, there was no gain. The Clemson defense was very stubborn. Second and third down, same result, no gain.”

The Clemson crowd, at a full roar, would help out their Tigers on fourth and goal, says Blackman.

“On fourth down, the crowd got so loud, and Virginia Tech was going to go for it. But there was so much noise, the Virginia Tech quarterback looked at the referee and said they can’t hear. So they went back to the huddle. They did this not once, not twice, but four times they did this. And that fourth time, well they charged Clemson a timeout. And then on that fourth time, the guard for Virginia Tech, Gary Smith, thought they were going back to the huddle. So he stood up, and this drew the Clemson defenders. They called illegal procedure against Virginia Tech, which backed them up five yards and they had to settle for a field goal. Clemson went on to win the game 13-10...if there was a way, everyone in that crowd should have gotten a game ball.”

Blackman then explained that this game was the basis for a new “crowd noise” rule throughout college football.

“Because of that, they passed some rules saying that too much of this noise business and they’re going to penalize the whole team fifteen yards. But that must be off the books now, because they never call that.”

Once upon a time, the 12th man for Clemson was so fierce that they single-handedly caused a team to get a crushing penalty and changed the rules of college football. Now that’s a home field advantage, and a significant one Clemson still holds today. Just as long as no more noise rules get passed.