Rival editors trade comments, insults ahead of Saturday’s USC-Clemson matchup
Did West Virginia just score again?
Remember that Orange Bowl where the Mountaineers set a scoring record with 70 points? Where Geno Smith tied a record with six touchdown passes? Where Tavon Austin tied a record for any bowl game with four touchdown catches?
Would Clemson fans prefer to forget that game? Then let’s talk instead about the fond memories Tiger fans have of the Gamecocks in recent years.
Remember 2009, when a Clemson team ranked in the top 20 lost to a 6-5 USC team? The final score was 34-17.
Clemson had a chance for revenge in 2010, and what happened then? The Tigers took a 7-0 lead within two minutes and then didn’t score again the entire game. South Carolina won that one 29-7.
Last year’s Gamecock win was equally decisive. Remember how USC and Clemson were tied at 10 until South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw scored with less than two minutes in the first half? The final of that one was 34-13.
Shaw burned the Tigers on the ground the entire night, and Kenny Miles had so much fun running all over them that even though he was honored on Senior Day last year, he decided he just had to come back and do it again.
So Clemson fans can say what they want about the all-time series. The only rivalry anyone on USC’s roster remembers is one where the Gamecocks win by at least 17 points.
Maybe that’s why the top recruits in the state are coming to USC now. They would rather have a chance at doing something new than have no chance at repeating that 1981 national championships the Tigers are so proud of. Too bad they didn’t fare as well in their most recent trip to the Orange Bowl.
And this week’s rankings may have Clemson over USC, but the Gamecocks could just as easily be a one-loss team with the Tigers’ schedule. They’ve faced the likes of Maryland, N.C. State and Virginia Tech in a conference schedule that illustrates just why the ACC deserves the nickname “All-Cupcake Conference.”
The only true test Clemson has faced was against then–No. 4 Florida State. And the Tigers managed to give up a 14-point lead to eventually lose by 12. This was the same Florida State team that would lose to N.C. State two weeks later.
If the Tigers had to play at the Swamp or Death Valley ...
But wait. They play at Death Valley every week. Clemson certainly earns no points for creativity. South Carolina has already faced a team called the Tigers twice this year.
The Gamecocks don’t need to resort to petty insults. They don’t need to refer to Clemson fans as Taters. The team can do all of the talking on the field. They have the past three years.
We may not be Alabama or LSU, but we sure aren’t Clemson. USC fans couldn’t be happier about that.
And to Dabo Swinney — this is the real USC. This is the USC that was founded before California was a state,.
This is the Carolina that Clemson won’t be able to roll over.
This is the University of South Carolina in Columbia. And the Gamecocks are coming for another win.