Catch-22

COLUMBIA — The balancing act of the Clemson game has managed to, at times, put South Carolina's Steve Spurrier in a no-win position.

He assigns equal importance to the SEC season and, to some, he's not taking the Tigers seriously enough.

He goes overboard to pump fire and fury into the in-state rivalry and, to some, he might be putting too much pressure on his players.

Five years in, Spurrier still finds himself on that high wire — where there's only one solution to appease the garnet-clad masses: Beat Clemson.

'That's something our fans measure our team off of,' USC fifth-year senior defensive tackle Nate Pepper said. 'If our team can go out and get a win against them, it kind of makes everything all right.

‘The biggest game of the year'

'The fans always seem to remember if we beat Clemson.'

That's the obvious and instant answer when South Carolina has lost six of seven and 10 of 12 in the lopsided series.

The schools' 107th meeting (Clemson leads the series 65-37-4) will kick off at noon Saturday (ESPN) inside Williams-Brice Stadium.

'We're looking forward to the biggest game of the year,' Spurrier said to open his news conference Tuesday.

That, in itself, shows Spurrier's gradual evolution in how he values the Clemson game.

'We've all said — or I've said, everybody's said — that if we're not in the SEC championship game, obviously this is the biggest game,' Spurrier said, refining his stance. 'So, obviously, this is our biggest game of the year.'

The No. 15 Tigers might feel differently. Or there's at least a debate.

'I don't know what it is for those guys because they're in the big game next week,' Spurrier said of Clemson's first appearance in the ACC title game. 'So I guess you've got to ask them if this is the biggest game of the year.'

For South Carolina, at least in terms of this particular season, it's fairly simple. Win, and you're 7-5 — destined for a decent SEC bowl. Lose, and you're 6-6 — headed for a whatever's-left SEC bowl, in probably Birmingham or Shreveport.

'I played in the Liberty Bowl my freshman year and the Outback Bowl last year,' senior linebacker Eric Norwood said. 'Thirty degrees in Memphis, 70 in Florida.'

Florida's out, but there's still one 'warm' destination on the table. It would be 72 and perfect inside the Georgia Dome, right?

More than a bowl, the Clemson game will provide definition to the season.

'We've won some close ones and lost some close ones. We've won six and lost five,' Spurrier said last week. 'If we're fortunate to win the last one, we'll have a very good year. If we don't, we'll have a very average year. It's as simple as that.'

Like the past two years, the Gamecocks enter Clemson week on the decline.

In 2008, they lost four in a row and the fifth, a 23-21 loss in Columbia, kept them from a bowl.

Last year, in what was expected to be a tight game, Clemson throttled USC from start to finish in a 31-14 game that exposed some internal issues for the Gamecocks.

Spurrier said even some coaches, who have since moved on, were guilty of having bad attitudes.

'It was tough and embarrassing the way we went out, letting them run all over us,' Pepper said. 'They kind of had their way with us. That's what we've talked about and thought about, wanting to come out and make up for it.'

When Spurrier arrived at South Carolina, he said there were 'Beat Clemson' signs everywhere. He found that to be overkill, an idea that took away from the goal of winning an SEC title of some kind.

'I said, ‘Wait a minute now. We want to beat everybody we play,' ' Spurrier said. 'I don't think that is helpful. I really don't. That's my opinion.'

And there he is, back on the high wire.

'I think we build it up without trying to put too much pressure on our guys,' Spurrier said. 'I've seen other teams get all fired up to beat somebody. The way you beat them is to outplay them.'

No balancing there. Just logic.

Reach Travis Haney at thaney@postandcourier.com and check out the South Carolina blog at www.postandcourier.com/blogs/gamecocks.