Sitting in Neyland Stadium, surrounded by South Carolina fans, I began to hear groans. Play was dead on the field for the time being, but it was happening — South Carolina fans all around me mourning something. Then I hear it: Clemson won.
With South Carolina attempting to pull the most improbable of comebacks, and the prospect of doing so at that very moment seeming actually possible, Gamecock fans started portraying disappointment, deflation and anguish. For a few seconds, the success of their own team in front of their own eyes took a back seat to the success of their rival so many miles away.
For some irrational reason, all that Gamecock fans want to see is a Tiger loss. They are consumed by the need to see Clemson fail, even to their own future self-detriment. They would wish away the chance of a College GameDay, the hype that would come from taking on the number one team in the nation, and the very real possibility of being the team that wrecks Clemson’s perfect season, just to see any sort of failure strike the Purple and Orange.
By wishing a loss upon Clemson just weeks before our matchup with them and being so disappointed when it doesn’t happen, it almost seems like Gamecock fans are waving a white flag. It almost comes across as saying, "We know that we can’t be the ones that will beat them, so at this point all that matters is that they lose. And if they don’t lose now in the games before us, then they never will."
I know that I for one welcome, even want, an undefeated Clemson football team to enter Williams-Brice Stadium two days after Thanksgiving. I know that I believe that our team could win, and that we could be the reason that the pizza party doesn’t occur throughout the streets of Clemson on Dec. 7, selection day for the College Football Playoff. And I know that now, at this point of the season, I don’t want any other team to take away the chance for us to do so.
I will never say “Go Clemson” nor will I hope they win. Just that for the very short term, I hope they don’t lose.
All I can wish for, and I believe other South Carolina fans will be grateful for, is the ability for us to send the Tigers limping home, undefeated no more.