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Clemson: The South Carolina Problem (article)

FeatheredCock

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There are a lot of good things going on with this program, a lot of reason to think Swinney has the Tigers poised for big things.

But he also has a big problem. The South Carolina Problem. It isn’t going away anytime soon.

CLEMSON – November 24, 2012, might forever be known as the day that Dabo Swinney’s biggest problem at Clemson became “The South Carolina Problem”.



Not that the Gamecocks hadn’t previously caused him some serious anguish. Their three straight wins against Clemson from 2009-11 comprised the Tigers’ longest losing streak to their rivals since 1968-70.



But the issue became much bigger when Clemson let South Carolina walk into Death Valley and win by double digits with a backup quarterback and two backup running backs.



This was supposed to be the night the Tigers returned the rivalry to its natural order. Clemson was favored by six points. Its offense had looked unstoppable for weeks and had rung up 62 through three quarters the previous week against N.C. State. Last year, the Tigers were unraveling heading into the regular-season finale. This time, they were leaving a vapor trail of records and ascending to an at-large BCS bid.



And the Gamecocks were hobbled. Star tailback Marcus Lattimore had been lost weeks before with a devastating knee injury. Quarterback Connor Shaw aggravated a foot injury the week before against Wofford and didn’t practice all week. Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney was dealing with foot and knee injuries.



Add it all up, and it felt like Clemson’s time. And that feeling was only enhanced in the hours leading up to the game, when word got out that backup Dylan Thompson would start in Shaw’s place.



On the surface, the result of this game would seem to be an improvement over the previous three whippings administered by the Gamecocks. Those all seemed over entering the fourth quarter. In this one, Clemson was up four at halftime and down just three until South Carolina scored a touchdown with 4:17 left in the game.



The Tigers lost by 22, 21 and 17 points the previous three years and lost by 10 in this one. Swinney said afterward that he thought his team “competed better” in this meeting, and they probably did.



But this defeat inflicted a more severe blow than its three predecessors. This defeat cut more deeply into the psyche of a program that’s fighting for relevance and respectability nationally. This defeat reinforced the notion that Clemson’s sexy, fast-paced offense can roll up a bunch of gaudy numbers against weak competition but runs into a brick wall against an elite defense.



Four days before the showdown with South Carolina, Swinney was asked about the belief that Clemson’s season would be a failure if the Tigers didn’t close the deal against South Carolina.



“I think that’s a sad way to think about things,” he said. “I think people who say that, they have no appreciation for winning or how hard it is to win. … People who say those things, they just don’t get it.”



In fairness, another loss to South Carolina does not mean the death of Clemson’s program. The Tigers are a young team, they are recruiting well and they look to be strong next year and beyond. Ten-win seasons haven’t been accomplished much since the glory days of the 1980s, and Swinney has done it in back-to-back years while also delivering the school’s first ACC title in two decades.



But if there is one thing Clemson fans cannot tolerate, it is losing to South Carolina. The four consecutive defeats mark the longest streak since 1954, and that is something Swinney will find hard to live down on the booster-club circuit, no matter how many 10-win seasons he strings together.



As of 1975, this rivalry was fairly even. But Clemson then began a long era of domination, compiling a 24-8-1 record from 1976 to 2008.



From 1977 to 1991, when the Tigers won a national title and a bunch of ACC titles, they were usually just plain better than South Carolina. They slipped to mediocrity in the 1990s, but the Gamecocks couldn’t consistently capitalize. When Lou Holtz took over at South Carolina in 1999, Clemson fans feared the domination might be over. But Tommy Bowden won five of six against Holtz.



Steve Spurrier took over for Holtz, but he proceeded to lose three of his first four against the Tigers – and the only victory was a narrow 31-28 triumph at Death Valley in 2006, sealed after Clemson missed a chip-shot field goal that would’ve forced overtime.



Spurrier’s third defeat came in 2008 against Swinney, who was auditioning for the head job vacated by Bowden’s departure halfway through a failed season. Swinney’s bunch smoked the Gamecocks 31-14, giving Clemson its sixth double-digit victory over South Carolina in 14 seasons.



At the time, there was a sense of inevitability to this rivalry. Clemson fans believed their team would win this game more often than not, no matter what. They believed the dominance would hold against whatever legendary coach South Carolina hired, against whatever five-star recruits the Gamecocks signed, against whatever facilities they built.

Tables Have Turned

And that snapshot from four years ago – the Tigers celebrating yet another win in the rivalry while Swinney was handed the keys to the program – presents the perfect image to underscore the current predicament.



Predicament being: The tables have completely turned in this rivalry. The feeling of inevitability, the aura of dominance, is now squarely in South Carolina’s corner.



It has to be pointed out that South Carolina’s program is better than it has ever been. The Gamecocks have had blips of success, but they’ve never been good this consistently. And without a doubt, they have never fielded defenses as elite as they have been in recent years.



Clemson has traditionally dominated South Carolina because Clemson has traditionally dominated South Carolina up front. It’s the exact inverse right now. The Gamecocks’ defensive line is clearly one of the best in the country, highlighted by the best defensive player in the country (Clowney) and a bunch of other NFL-type linemen.



Against a steady diet of ACC defenses, Clemson’s offensive players looked cool and confident while ending most of the games by halftime. Against the Gamecocks, they scored touchdowns on two of their first three possessions. But with the score close in the second quarter, they seemed to tighten up in the face of the pressure.



In the last four years against South Carolina, Clemson hasn’t cracked 17 points. The Tigers have punted 27 times in those games, 11 in the last two. Total plays for the offense in those games: 62, 61, 60, 59.



The most nauseating development for Clemson was seeing a shorthanded Gamecock offense hold the ball for 40 minutes and limit the Tigers to just 19 plays in the second half. Thompson wasn’t supposed to be a running threat, but the sophomore ended up burning Clemson’s porous defense with zone-read keepers and quarterback draws.



Clemson fans bickered among themselves in the aftermath, arguing where to lay the most blame: on an offense that scored just 17 points after coming in averaging 44, or on a defense that couldn’t get off the field against a mediocre offense in the second half.



Since losing 49-37 at Florida State on Sept. 22, Clemson was the heavy favorite throughout its seven-game winning streak. With zero attractive wins to their credit, the Tigers knew this was their chance to show the college football world they belonged in elite company.



Maybe next year.



Clemson will get another opportunity against a major-conference opponent in a bowl game, but this season is permanently stained by what occurred against the Gamecocks.



There are a lot of good things going on with this program, a lot of reason to think Swinney has the Tigers poised for big things.

But he also has a big problem. The South Carolina Problem. It isn’t going away anytime soon.

http://www.accsports.com/artic...looms-large.php

 
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