Clemson, USC coaches learn to appreciate importance of annual grudge match

Soon after he took the coaching job at South Carolina, Steve Spurrier sent the message that ending his program's hex against Clemson wasn't that big a deal.

He ripped down the "Beat Clemson" signs that were featured so prominently in the football offices under his predecessor, Lou Holtz. He emphasized that competing for championships in the Southeastern Conference was far more important than evening the score against the orange neighbors to the northwest.

All it took for Spurrier's tune to change a bit was a loss to the Tigers on his first try in 2005, a 13-9 defeat in Columbia. By the time the Gamecocks emerged from Clemson with a 31-28 triumph last year, Spurrier seemed to have developed a new appreciation for the rivalry and what it means.

The victory snapped a four-game losing streak to the Tigers, who had won eight times in nine years.

"This game belongs to the South Carolina fans who've been beaten too many times by Clemson," Spurrier said in the aftermath. "And we need to start right now getting our streak going with Clemson. ... They lived with a lot of crap over the years, a lot more than me and most all our players who've only been here like two or three years.

"So we don't know this rivalry quite as well as our fans know it."

The stakes of this rivalry, which dates to 1896, are muddled by its one-sided nature, differing conference affiliations and irrelevance beyond the Palmetto State's borders. To Spurrier and his counterpart, ninth-year Clemson coach Tommy Bowden, winning their respective conferences is the ultimate goal because it's the pragmatic goal.

But as both Spurrier and Bowden have learned, pragmatism can be thrown out the window with the records when you're dealing with something that's less game than cultural event.

"You have to be careful how you say it, because it means so much to so many people in this state," Bowden said. "It's hard to kind of change tradition or emphasize the conference championship."

On Saturday, the No. 21 Tigers (8-3) will play the Gamecocks in Columbia. Last week's 20-17 home loss to Boston College ruined Clemson's

chances of claiming its first Atlantic Coast Conference title since 1991. USC saw its SEC title hopes squashed with four consecutive league losses, and now the Gamecocks (6-5) will consider themselves fortunate to land in a bowl — any bowl.

Nevertheless, there will be no shortage of intensity when game time rolls around at Williams-Brice Stadium. The rest of the college football world won't care, but the denizens of South Carolina will hang on every twist and turn.

"The only thing that makes it endure are the fans," said Goose Creek High coach Chuck Reedy, who served as an assistant at both schools. "You've got the fans and all the kids from the state of South Carolina who, if they go to one of those schools, they've grown up with it being a big game. It really has very little significance other than the fact that the fans make it a big deal."

Speaking from experience

After he was hired away from Maryland in 1956, Gamecocks coach Warren Giese stated that beating Clemson shouldn't be the utmost priority. He learned otherwise after he lost four of five games against the Tigers; he was reassigned to the physical education department.

From 1941 to 1975, USC compiled an 18-15-2 record against the Tigers. Back in those days, the Gamecocks expected to beat Clemson.

But starting in 1976, six years after USC's last season in the ACC, Clemson began an era of dominance that continues. The Tigers have gone 22-8-1 over that stretch, winning four straight in the series on four occasions (1980-83, 1988-91, 1997-2000, 2002-05). Meanwhile, the Gamecocks haven't managed to win in back-to-back years since they claimed three straight from 1968-70.

Clemson has a 63-37-4 advantage in the series. The Tigers have won 13 of their past 16 games in Columbia, including eight of their last nine by an average score of 37-15. Even though Clemson slid from prominence starting in 1992, the Tigers have still managed to win 10 of 15 over the Gamecocks during that stretch.

In the context of history recent and distant, it's easy to see why Bowden considers an ACC title paramount. He has won six of eight games against the Gamecocks since his first year in 1999.

Yet he acknowledged Tuesday he probably wouldn't still be employed at Clemson if the record against USC were reversed, and he speaks from experience.

Bowden was an assistant under Alabama in the late 1980s under Bill Curry, who led the Crimson Tide to an SEC title in 1989. Curry was voted coach of the year in the SEC after the 10-2 season, but he was shown the door largely because he lost to Auburn three straight years.

"We were 10-1 and they had a list of candidates for his job before we played the game," Bowden recalled. "That's the way it is at most places. ... Once you lose a whole bunch, you won't be there very long."

Contrasting expectations

Clemson fans are still starved for an ACC title, having gone 16 years without one after collecting seven from 1978 to 1991. Bowden, who has compiled a 68-41 overall record and a 42-30 mark in ACC play, is still perceived to be on shaky footing despite his impressive record against Holtz and Spurrier.

Reedy, who coached at Clemson under Danny Ford from 1978 to 1989, believes winning six of eight against USC has nonetheless been crucial for Bowden. A 63-17 win over the Gamecocks in 2003 helped the coach secure a long-term contract.

"What has taken a lot of the pressure off Tommy is the fact that they've been able to win that last game against South Carolina," said Reedy, who coached under Brad Scott at South Carolina in 1998. "That game has been somewhat his salvation, I think. Losing it is much more significant than winning it, if that makes any sense.

"Let him lose again this year, and we'll see how much patience the people have."

Clemson people probably wouldn't be able to accept regularly winning ACC titles if it meant regular losses to the Gamecocks. On the other hand, USC would probably be able to stomach more losses to the Tigers if the Gamecocks were claiming an SEC title here and there.

Tom Price, a Gamecocks historian who served as the school's sports information director from 1962-92, said the Tigers' ownership of the Gamecocks has created clear differences in what each side expects and accepts.

"They've won so much more that they just expect to win," he said. "Carolina fans might deny that there's a difference in expectations, but until they establish a pattern of winning, that thought is probably going to prevail — that expectations are in Clemson's favor."

Understanding the importance

When Spurrier was at Florida, the Gators compiled a 5-8-1 record against Florida State. That didn't keep the Gators from winning a national title, playing for another, and racking up six SEC championships during his 12 years in Gainesville, Fla.

Since joining the SEC in 1992, the Gamecocks have yet to win the Eastern Division.

"It's very similar to the Florida-FSU game," Spurrier said. "If somebody said, 'You have a choice, you can win this one but not both of them,' it would be the conference championship. When you win the conference championship, you order a ring. Your name is in the history books forever. And when you beat the in-state rival, you've got bragging rights for that year. But the next year you start all over again."

Still, Spurrier has been around this rivalry long enough to know what it means to his fans. And Bowden is no different.

"We know how happy our people were last year," Spurrier said. "We all realize the importance of winning the in-state battle."

Said Bowden: "A lot of it depends on who you ask. I'm sure there are a lot of Clemson people you could ask — and South Carolina people — would say the SEC championship or ACC championship pales in significance to this game."

-- Travis Haney contributed to this story.

Reach Larry Williams at lwilliams@postandcourier.com.