Clemson and South Carolina: What to look for

Dabo Swinney has a chance to earn his ninth win against South Carolina.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Nov 26 07:00:06 GMT-04:00 2022

When Clemson plays South Carolina in football, the entire state takes notice. That’s the case today as the Tigers and Gamecocks meet at high noon in Death Valley.

The Gamecocks are chasing an eighth win and a respectable bowl, while the Tigers still have hopes of making the College Football Playoff.

There are several things to watch for this afternoon.

NO. 7/8 CLEMSON (10-1, 8-0 ACC) vs. RV/RV SOUTH CAROLINA (7-4, 4-4 SEC)

WHEN: SATURDAY, NOV. 26, NOON ET
WHERE: MEMORIAL STADIUM (81,500), CLEMSON, S.C.
TELEVISION: ABC (Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge, Molly McGrath)
RADIO: Clemson Athletic Network (Don Munson, Tim Bourret, Reggie Merriweather)
SATELLITE RADIO: SiriusXM 137 or 193, Internet/App 955

*Clemson attempting to produce its 11th 11-win season in program history, joining the 1948, 1978, 1981, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons. It would be Clemson's eighth season of 11-plus wins under Head Coach Dabo Swinney.

*Clemson attempting to produce its seventh 11-win regular season in program history, joining the 1981 (11), 2015 (12), 2016 (11), 2017 (11), 2018 (12) and 2019 (12) seasons.

*Clemson attempting to win at least 11 of its first 12 games of a season for the eighth time in program history, joining the 1978 (11-1), 1981 (12-0), 2015 (12-0), 2016 (11-1), 2017 (11-1), 2018 (12-0) and 2019 (12-0) seasons.

*The 2022 Clemson seniors (25-0 at home from 2019-22) attempting to become the third Clemson senior class in the modern era (and in Death Valley history) to go undefeated at home in a four-year span, joining the 2020 and 2021 seniors.

*The 2022 Clemson seniors (25-0 at home) attempting to tie for fifth in school history in home wins over a four-year span. The 26 home wins would match the 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2021 seniors and sit one win shy of the school record.

*Clemson attempting to become the first FBS program to post undefeated home records in six consecutive seasons since Florida State's nine-season streak from 1992-2000.

*Clemson playing its 1,300th game in program history.

*Clemson and South Carolina continuing a rivalry that had been contested for 111 consecutive years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the series’ resumption in 2021. Before the series’ interruption, it was the nation’s second-longest uninterrupted series.

*Clemson hosting South Carolina for the first time since 2018 by virtue of the 2020 interruption. By kickoff, a total of 1,463 days will have elapsed between Clemson home games in the rivalry, representing the longest elapsed time between Clemson home games in the series since the rivalry transitioned to a home-and-home format in 1960.

*By kickoff time, Clemson entering the game having not surrendered a point to the Gamecocks in 1,092 days (2019), not surrendered a touchdown to the Gamecocks in 1,463 days (2018) and not lost to the Gamecocks in 3,283 days (2013). Clemson will have led the all-time series with the Gamecocks for 45,299 consecutive days (124 years, 9 days). South Carolina won the series opener in 1896 before Clemson evened the series in 1897. Clemson won the third game in the series on Nov. 17, 1898 to take a 2-1 series lead that it hasn’t relinquished.

*Clemson attempting to improve to 73-42-4 all-time against South Carolina. Clemson’s 72 all-time wins against South Carolina are the program’s most against any opponent.

*Clemson attempting to record eight consecutive wins against South Carolina to surpass Clemson’s seven-game streak from 1934-40 as the longest winning streak by either team in series history.

*Clemson attempting to produce a fifth straight senior class with a perfect record against South Carolina in their four-year careers. The current group is 2-0 against South Carolina since 2019 by virtue of the 2020 game being removed from the schedule during the COVID-19 pandemic.

*Clemson attempting to move its all-time home record against South Carolina to 20-10-1 since the first Clemson home game in the series in 1960. South Carolina would join Wake Forest (40), Presbyterian (32), North Carolina State (27), Furman (26), Virginia (21) and Duke (20) as the seventh school to be defeated by Clemson in at least 20 Tiger home games all-time.

*Clemson attempting to earn a fourth straight home win against South Carolina for the first time since 1998- 2004.

*Clemson entering the contest having won its last five games in the series against South Carolina by at least 21 points (49 points in 2016, 24 points in 2017, 21 points in 2018, 35 points in 2019 and 30 points in 2021).

*Clemson’s five consecutive wins of 21-plus points mark the longest streak of 21-point victories in the series by either team.

*Clemson having an opportunity to post consecutive shutouts against South Carolina for the first time in the series since 1956-57. Frank Howard’s Clemson teams won 7-0 in 1956 and 13-0 in 1957.

*Clemson attempting to shutout a major conference opponent in back-to-back games in a series for the first time since shutting out Maryland in three straight games from 1993-95.

*Clemson attempting to hold South Carolina to single digits in points in three straight games in the series for the first time since a five-game series streak by Coach Jess Neely’s Tigers from 1933-37.

*Head Coach Dabo Swinney attempting to improve to 9-5 all-time against South Carolina. He is already the first Clemson coach with seven straight wins against South Carolina, surpassing the six straight wins secured by Jess Neely from 1934-39.

*Swinney (eight) attempting to join Frank Howard (13) as the only Clemson coaches to defeat South Carolina nine times.