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‘We finally caught the Tiger’

USC ends years of frustration as rivals battle valiantly down to the wire

By Ron Morris
The State
Published: November 26, 2006

CLEMSON - It's a rivalry again.

South Carolina's stirring 31-28 victory against Clemson on Saturday at Death Valley put the spirit back into a rivalry that for most of the past three decades has been so one-sided as to render it not much of a rivalry at all.

It is not much fun when your brother makes you cry "uncle" day after day, or in this case, when Clemson annually pulls the traveling Hardee's trophy that goes to the winner out of the case, dusts it off and puts it back in place.

Clemson entered the game having won the past four meetings with USC and eight of the past nine. USC last made this rivalry close to even when it won five out of seven from 1964 to 1970.

You could argue that one win does not turn the tide in any series, unless you are talking about one that has Steve Spurrier on one sideline. Having him orchestrate USC's show sheds a different light on this century-old get-together.

Saturday's win showed Spurrier can take a program that is in its virtual infancy and a team with far less talent and play toe-to-toe with a program that is eight years in the making and features a dazzling assortment of players.

For Clemson, beating USC had become a rite of fall. Even coach Tommy Bowden admitted afterward that he had forgotten the feeling of losing to USC, since it last happened in 2001.

"I remember it now," he said. "It comes back pretty quick when you lose. ... When you don't lose very often, which we haven't, it definitely hurts a lot more. Now, I see why you want to win it every year."

As sour as the taste was for Bowden and Clemson, it was equally as sweet ח or more so for USC and its fans.

Interestingly enough, Spurrier has downplayed the rivalry since the day he arrived in Columbia. He removed "Beat Clemson" signs from the USC locker room at Williams-Brice Stadium. He often reminded his team and his fans that beating Clemson is not as important as winning conference games that could lead to a championship.

Spurrier admitted he has not been involved in this rivalry long enough ח- nor has his coaching staff or some of his players - to truly understand the significance of beating Clemson.

But he has heard enough from USC fans about the hatred between the two programs to know what it means to them. So, as he prepared his team this week, and again in the locker room afterward, Spurrier said this game ח and victory was for USC fans.

"It was extremely important to our fans," Spurrier said.

That was most evident afterward as USC players left the field and headed to their lockerroom, nearly every one saluting the chanting and cheering throng. Center Chris White turned his helmet backward, pushed it up on his forehead and grabbed a huge Gamecocks flag that he gleefully waved in front of the faithful.

"It's a rivalry for me, no doubt about that," USC sophomore receiver Kenny McKinley said. "It's a big game. Next year, I can't wait to play these guys next year. They beat us (four) times, and we want to see how many times we can beat them."

Senior safety Syvelle Newton said the four-year wait for a win over Clemson was worth the wait.

"To end my college career ... what was going through my mind was we finally got them, we finally beat them," Newton said. "We finally caught the Tiger. It just felt great. I'm just going to enjoy this win, probably enjoy it for the rest of my life. It's something we can always go back and talk about, this win right here."

Spurrier said USC players and fans might someday remember this game as the turning point in the rivalry and in the program's history.

Spurrier said Saturday's win could prove to be as significant to USC as a victory at Alabama was to Florida early in his first season there. He said Florida got few breaks in that game yet persevered to win, 17-13, and his Gators were off and running to an eventual national championship and six Southeastern Conference crowns.

"Hopefully, whatever bad things happened to South Carolina football may be erased today," he said. "Sometimes a game like this can do it, but time will tell if this one we can look back on two, three, four, five years from now and say that was a turnaround game."

That indeed might take time. But how USC overcame three interceptions and a 14-point, second-half deficit was a sure sign that Saturday's game was a turning point in the rivalry with Clemson.

Spurrier traditionally distributes game balls following victories. He started the practice during his days coaching at Duke and carried it through his 12 seasons at Florida. He passed a few out to deserving players, including one to quarterback Blake Mitchell, following Saturday's game.

Then he announced to the team that game balls would go to all USC fans.

"So, at Gamecock Club (meetings) this summer come by and be ready to purchase your game ball," Spurrier said. "I'll assure you, I'll autograph it for anyone who wants one."

One USC fan, Charles Stewart of Fountain Inn, waited around afterward to pat Gamecock players on the back as they walked toward awaiting buses. Stewart said he would be first in line this summer to purchase a game ball for his "Gamecock room" at home.

The surest sign that the USC-Clemson rivalry is back was illustrated on both of Stewart's hands. His bleeding fingernails had been chewed to the nub.

 

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