Bring Gameday to CU-USC

Next week the Clemson Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks will meet on the gridiron for the 109th time. The Palmetto State's two largest schools are only seperated by 132 miles, have been playing football since 1896, and hate each other as much as Alabama-Auburn. Still, this rivalry rarely gets mentioned among the best rivalries in College Football. It's time for that to change and ESPN's College Gameday coming to Columbia next week would help.

Growing up as a child in White Rock, SC I grew up in a Gamecock Family. My Grandmother was born a Jaco, a name most Gamecock fans will recognize from the historic bar Jaco's Corner, located at the corner of Bluff and Rosewood Drive that will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year. The Jaco and Barber family settled in the Olympia Mills section of Columbia, SC over 100 years ago meaning that a large group of my relatives group up only a few blocks from WIlliams-Brice Stadium. It goes without saying that the colors orange and purple were rarely seen at family reunions. As a kid you leared that the Block C with the Gamecock meant good and that Tiger Paw pointed slightly to the left means evil even though at age 3 you really don't know why.

The first South Carolina-Clemson game I remember as a kid was the 84 game where a 9-1 South Carolina team faced 7-3 Clemson in Death Valley. The Gamecocks had been ranked as high as #2 nationally, but an upset loss to Navy ended the Gamecocks national championship hopes. Clemson was only 3 years removed from a National Championship, but saw itself on probation during the 84 year. The Gamecocks rallied to beat the Tigers 22-21 that day, but to be honest I was only 5 at the time and don't really remember much about this day. While I knew I was supposed to support South Carolina, I really didn't understand why and I didn't understand how special the 84 season was for Gamecock fans.

It really wasn't until 1987 that I really became a sports fan. Prior to that watching Thundercats, GI Joe, and NWA Wrestling with Ric Flair seemed far more important. Since Cable TV wasn't offered in White Rock, SC I got all my sports information from AM 560 WVOC in Columbia. I spent many nights that year(and afterwards) listening to Gamecock games being called by Bob Fulton. I would even spend the afternoons listening to Jim Phillips broadcast Tiger games from Death Valley. I was hooked and by the time 7-2 South Carolina met 9-1 Clemson at Williams Brice Stadium I was a big time sports addict.

At Chapin Elementary School that week I remember everyone had on either Clemson or South Carolina clothing all week. At this age you found your friends by asking a simple question "Who do you pull for?". The only two answers that were acceptable were "Carolina or Clemson" and really no other reply was ever heard. Those were the two schools in the Palmetto State and with no professional franchises within 230 miles from my school, everyone knew what the question meant. I remember that Friday as I got ready to catch the school bus, "Tiger Rag" played over the PA and it was followed by The Gamecock's Fight Song. Everyone was excited about this game and no one was going to miss it.

The game was nationally televised on ESPN. While we didn't have cable, my grandfather(who lived on the other side of the corn field) had just purchased one of those gigantic satelite dishes. Really, he didn't care much about sports, but purchased the dish to watch old Western Movies and the old Nashville Network. I and others in my family convinced him to let us watch South Carolina-Clemson at his house that night. It was a top 15 showdown and little did I know, this would be the last time the two would meet with both being ranked in the top 15.

The 87 game featured two fantastic defenses. Clemson was led by guys like first rounder Donnell Woolford and Ed McDaniel. Entering the game Clemson's defense was only allowing 14 points per game. South Carolina featured a defense known as "Black Death" that was only giving up 10 points per game and was led by Joe Lee Dunn, a man who would end up being a DC at Arkansas, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State. The offenses were also very potent. Clemson featured an option attack led by Rodney Williams and future pro bowl running back Terry Allen, while South Carolina featured future All Pro players in Sterling Sharpe and Harold Green. The game also featured the youngest coach to win a National Championship in Danny Ford and the 1984 National Coach of the Year Joe Morrison.

The defenses really shined in the 87 game and the game wasn't in doubt until Gamecock defensive back Brad Edwards returned a Rodney Williams interception for a touchdown to give South Carolina a 20-7 lead late in the game. At that moment a chant of Rooodddney, Rooooddddney echoed across Williams Brice Stadium. Fans draped in black, hung a Tiger from the upper deck and #12 South Carolina would go on to defeat #8 Clemson for the first time since 1984.

I was spoiled after the 87 game. I thought all Gamecock-Tiger games would be like this, but they weren't. A little over a year later South Carolina's popular coach Joe Morrison would tragically die after a game of raquetball. Clemson football coach Danny Ford would coach 2 more seasons for the Tigers, but resigned on Jan 18, 1990 after a falling out with Clemson Administration. The Gamecock program would collapse in the 90s and Clemson's program would fall from the dominating football it played in the 1980s. The football rivalry, while intense instate, fell off the map nationally.

In 2000 it looked as if the rivalry was back on track to becoming something important. South Carolina was in year two under legendary coach Lou Holtz and Clemson was in year two under one of the hottest young coaches in College Football with Tommy Bowden. I was a junior at Newberry College at the time. Even though I was on a college campus not affiliated with Clemson or USC, it was still Gamecock-Tiger week on campus. A group of Gamecocks gathered at my off campus apartment to witness another historic Gamecock-Tiger game that featured two teams ranked in the top 25.

The 2000 game is known as "The Push-off" by Gamecock Fans and The Catch II by Tiger fans. South Carolina scored a late TD to go up 14-13 in Death Valley. It looked as if Clemson was going to lose to South Carolina for the first time since 1996 and I can still remember my Gamecock Friends getting on their cells to call up Clemson Fans to talk trash. Then with 10 seconds left, Clemson QB Woody Dantzler launched a 50 yard prayer to Rod Gardner to the Gamecocks 8 yard line. The play set up a 25 yard game winning field goal by Aaron Hunt and Clemson won the game 16-14. On the play Rod Gardner appeared to have pushed off to make the catch, but no flag was thrown. The Gamecock fans in my apartment were stunned and really not a nice word was spoken the rest of the day. Only lots of alcohol would help with the loss.

Holtz and Tommy Bowden never were able to take their programs to elite status. Holtz did ge the Gamecocks a top 15 ranking at the end of the 2001 season, but his final 3 years were mediocre. Bowden would own the South Carolina-Clemson rivalry, but he never was able to get Clemson to the championship level they knew in the 80s. The two programs while better than they were in the 90s, still weren't competing for SEC or ACC Championships.

Now we come to 2011. South Carolina is currently #12 in the BCS Standings and Clemson is #7. South Carolina is the defending SEC East Champs and Clemson has won its division of the ACC 2 of the last 3 years. With both teams favored to win this weekend it is likely we will see a 10-1 Clemson team play a 9-2 South Carolina team next Saturday at 7:45 in Columbia, South Carolina. This will be the most combined wins by the two schools entering this game and likely will be the highest combined ranking for the two schools. Finally, The Palmetto State Rivalry means something nationally. With a win over Clemson, South Carolina would gain its second 10 win season in school history. Clemson with a win will have its first 11 win season since the 1981 National Championship season.

ESPN Gameday is supposed to feature the biggest game of the week in College Football. This week they will take their yealy trip to an unusual location(Houston), but next week its back to business. For the week South Carolina and Clemson is without the best game. Sure, LSU and Arkansas also play, but that game is on a Friday. The traditional rivalries like Alabama-Auburn, Ohio State-Michigan, and Florida-Florida State will feature an unranked team in each game. Virginia-Virginia Tech could have ACC Championship Game implications, but that rivalry hasn't seen 80,000 in the stands for 3 decades.

South Carolina-Clemson is Alabama-Auburn without the national championship trophies, crazy instate talk show host, and the near 40 year gap in playing each other. You are either a Gamecock or a Tiger in this state. We still don't have a professional sports team in this state(Columbia doesn't even have minor league baseball) and Clemson-South Carolina is our biggest sporting event of the year. While Bama-Auburn gets all the attention in the South, I can promise you this rivalry is just as intense. It would be a great showcase or The Palmetto State to see this rivalry finally get the national respect it deserves.

I find it funny that rivalries such as "The Civil War", Ohio State-Michigan, or "Bedlam" tend to get more attention than this rivalry. Oregon State struggles to fill a 40,000 seat stadium and Oregon gets about 60,000 on gameday. Do people really believe that this is more intense than a battle of two schools in the South that consistently fill 80,000 seat stadiums? "Bedlam" isn't even the biggest game on Oklahoma's schedule each year, but I promise you if you ask any Gamecock or Tiger what their biggest game is they will say their instate rival. Ohio State-Michigan certainly draws national attention, but after a loss the fans of those two schools can go home and be surrounded by friendly instate neighbors. For Gamecock fans a loss to Clemson might mean you share the same bed with a Tiger! Ohio State-Michigan can escape the loss by their multiple professional sports, but for a Gamecock or Tiger there is no escaping the loss as you are reminded of it 365 days a year.

It has been 24 years since the 87 game. Joe Morrison rests somewhere in a higher place and Danny Ford is enjoying retirement on an upstate Farm doing the occasional radio interview. Still, the 2011 season is going to be just as special as the Ol Ball Coach leads his troops on the field to host the young and energetic Dabo Swinney. Even if the game wasn't featuring two top programs wouldn't the sound bites created by these two coaches be enough? Come on Corso, Fowler, and Hebie to Columbia, SC for this historic rivalry so the nation can know about Pitchfork Ben, the Sigma Nu Prank of 61, and what the numbers "63 and 17" mean.

Matt Barber
Dixiefriedsports@gmail.com
http://twitter.com/#!/dixiefriedsport