 "Photo: Juan Blas / The Gamecock")
When Carolina squares off against Clemson for the 103rd time Saturday, 20 seniors on both sides will start their final regular-season college football game. The bittersweet ending to college playing careers leaves only one thing for USC's senior class: beat Clemson.
If Clemson beats Carolina on Saturday, the current crop of Gamecock seniors will become the 11th group in USC's football history to have never posted a win against their in-state archrival. Still, those seniors playing for five years have posted a career record of 32-25, not bad considering former coach Lou Holtz left Carolina with a losing record during his tenure.
"It would be unfortunate and disappointing (to not beat Clemson), but (my career) won't be incomplete," senior offensive lineman Na'Shan Goddard said. "We've had some good times here, and this has been a real good year for us."
Others see the game as an opportunity for the veterans to introduce this young Gamecock team to the intensity inherent in the rivalry.
"All the seniors, we've really just been telling everybody to focus and take it seriously this week. We've got to have a great week of practice. Clemson always plays a great game against South Carolina. We've really got to have a great week of practice and play great on Saturday," senior offensive tackle Jabari Levey said.
Staring down the Gamecocks on the opposite sideline is a Clemson senior class intent on keeping its perfect record intact against Carolina and win in Williams-Brice for the second straight time.
Clemson quarterback Charlie Whitehurst already has a 3-0 record against Carolina, tying him with Homer Jordan (1980-1982) as the only quarterbacks to beat the Gamecocks three times. If Clemson wins, Whitehurst will become the only quarterback in the history of the program to go 4-0 against USC.
Clemson coach Tommy Bowden, coming off a two-game winning streak that saw an avenging of last year's loss to Duke and a victory against father Bobby Bowden's FSU Seminoles, explains what he'll remember about Whitehurst's collegiate career.
"Other than the wins over Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida State, Miami, I think he's benefited this university from a recruiting standpoint, from a leadership standpoint. I don't think you really learn about life until you experience a season like he did during his junior year. You saw how he responded. He rebound(ed) after his junior year and it was nice of him not to blame it on me," Tommy Bowden said.
The last time Whitehurst was in Williams-Brice, he went 18-of-26 for 302 yards with one interception and four touchdowns. If he manages to post a similar game against USC this time around, the senior class will most certainly be left with another Clemson loss and a slightly hollow feeling on the season.
Senior linebacker Lance Laury looks to exorcise the orange demons by not placing any special importance on beating Clemson.
"Both of us are fighting for that win. Everybody always talks about the Clemson and USC game and never look at the other games before them," Laury said.
"We're just going to play like we've been playing for the past couple weeks. We've been winning, being ourselves and having fun out there. If that's what it takes, then that's what we're going to have to do."
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