Gamecocks vs. Tigers: 30 Years of The Battle of the Palmetto State Part 7

Today we will discuss the 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000 match-ups between South Carolina and Clemson’s football teams.

1997 was a year of high expectations for the Gamecocks.  It was coach Brad Scott’s fourth year and the team had a lot of returning starters off of a 6-5 ‘96 squad. The most notable ruturning starter was junior quarterback Anthony Wright. Wright probably is to this day the most athletically gifted quarterback to ever wear the Garnett and Black. He also had had offensive weapons like Zola Davis, Troy Hambrick, and Boo Williams around him.

Clemson was disappointed with the way the ‘96 season had gone down the stretch, but they too had cause for excitement at the start of ‘97. The Tigers had two-time a 1,300 yard rusher in Raymond Priester, fourth year starting quarterback Nealon Greene, as well as defensive studs Rahim Abdullah, Anthony Simmons, Adrian Dingle, and Antwan Edwards.

But by the time the teams lined up in Williams-Brice on November 22 they had both slugged through average seasons. Clemson was 6-4 and Carolina was 5-5 and neither squad had pulled out a marque victory.

Scott and the Gamecocks were desperate to get bowl eligible. However, despite being at home the odds were stacked against them with quarterback Vic Penn making only his second career start after Wright was injured at Tennessee.

Tommy West was also aware of the importance of this game.  He knew he couldn’t afford to loose to his in state rival for a second straight time and the third time in his four seasons at the helm of the Clemson program.

The Gamecocks looked sharp early as running back Troy Hambrick broke off two long touchdown runs of 54 and 35 yards to give USC the 14-3 lead.  Momentum shifted sharply late in the first quarter when an errant pitch by Hambrick to Gamecock receiver Jermale Kelly on an attempted reverse play ended up in the hands of Clemson defensive back Chad Speck.

From that play on the game belonged to the Tigers, as Greene and Priester, who had both struggled most of the season, led the Clemson offense on four consecutive scoring drives. Tiger return man Tony Horne added a special teams punch, returning a Courtney Leavitt punt 39 yards for a touchdown. Clemson safety Antwan Edwards also returned an interception 42 yards for another score.

When it was all said and done, Clemson had tallied 44 unanswered points before Carolina running back Scott Moritz finally got the ‘Cocks back in the end zone near the end of the forth quarter.

Final score: Clemson 47, Carolina 21

The Tigers would go on to lose a third straight bowl game when they fell 21 to 17 to Auburn in the Peach Bowl. Clemson’s record stood at 7-5, and while the victory over South Carolina may have saved West’s job for one more year, every fan knew that he, like Scott, had to produce or their would be new coaches at both schools soon.

1998 ended up being a season that both schools would love to forget. The Gamecocks won the season oppener against Ball State. To say that South Carolina’s  wheels fell off after that would be an understatement of massive proportions.  The Gamecocks wouldn’t win another game in ‘98.  They came into the Clemson game 1-9 and had allowed 30 points or more in 6 of their last 7 games. More alarming than the results on the field was the apparent apathy by Carolina players and coaches. They were caught on on camera multiple times during the course of the loosing streak laughing and seeming to not care about the numbers on the scoreboard.  Scott had racked up a shockingly high attrition rate over his five seasons and had ruined this once stable program.

Tommy West wasn’t far behind.  Clemson entered the 1998 USC game with a 2-8 record; their only victories coming against Division I-AA Furman and a 3-8 Maryland squad. It was Clemson’s worst season in 23 years and, considering the program history and expectations, Clemsons ‘98 campaign was even more of a shock than its cross state rival’s, ironically leading Clemson fans to long for the days of Ken Hatfield.   West was fired four days prior to the Clemson/Carolina game, but he was allowed to stay on to coach his farewell game and to try to get a winning record over the Gamecocks in his career.

Much like the previous meeting the Gamecocks played solid at the beginning of the game but Clemson came away with the victory 28-19, breaking the seven year loosing streak by the home team in this series.

Less than 48 hours later Brad Scott, met the same fate as Tommy West.  He was out as coach of the Gamecocks.

“Our program’s lack of satisfactory progress and our inability to successfully compete within the Southeastern Conference led to this decision,” said USC Athletic Director Mike McGee.

On December 2, 1998 Tommy Bowden, son of Florida State coaching legend Bobby Bowden, was hired as the new head coach of the Clemson Tigers. He was coming off a perfect 11-0 season at Tulane and was considered by many to be one of the most exciting young minds in college football.

“Tommy Bowden is one of the top young coaches in the nation and we are thrilled to have him as our head coach, ” said Athletic Director Bobby Robinson.

“What he has done as the head coach at Tulane is extraordinary. He took over a program that had struggled for many years and made them a top 10 program in two seasons.

“You can see by his resume that he has been associated with winning programs for over 20 years. Obviously he has been around the game all his life. He will bring great energy and excitement to our program.”

College Football Hall of Fame Coach Lou Holtz

Two days after the Bowden hire at Clemson, South Carolina made an even bigger splash by hiring a college football legend Lou Holtz.

Holtz had been one of the most successful coaches over the last 30 years of college football with a career record of 216-95-7. He went to bowl games with programs like NC State, Minnesota, William & Mary, Arkansas and most notably Notre Dame, the latter of which he took to the 1988 National Championship.

Holtz raised the bar higher than it had ever been for the Garnet and Black as soon as he made his way into Williams-Brice Stadium, saying “There is no reason in this world why we can’t be as good as anybody in the country, and our goal is to win the national championship.”   His talk of championships inspired hope in a Gamecock nation starving for success.

The ‘99 season was a clear rebuilding year for South Carolina. The mountain Lou Holtz and staff had to climb was tremendous. The Gamecocks finished the season 0-11 but showed positive signs of improvement. The positives began in the offseason when South Carolina signed all-american running back Derek Watson. Watson led a great freshman class that included future Gamecock stars Ryan Brewer, Andrew Pinnock, Langston Moore, Rashad Faison, and Dennis Quinn. The ‘Cocks  finished in the top 20 defensively. and the pass defense didn’t give up 300 yards passing in a single game all year.

Tommy Bowdens rebuilding job also didn’t happen over night. The Tigers went 6-6 which included a 31-21 win over their in state rival. They did pick up a victory over a top 25 Virginia team, the first such win in nearly two years. Woodrow Dantzler, Travis Zachery and Rod Gardener emerged to lead a high powered offense that gave Clemson fans reason to look forward to the 2000 season.

The new Millennium was seen by Gamecock fans as a chance to start anew. Two years to the day since USC’s last victory over Ball State the Gamecocks defeated New Mexico State 31-0in the season opener. The fans at Williams Brice released their frustration on the goal post after the 21 game loosing streak was broken.  The next week Lou and his ‘Cocks shocked Quincy Carter and the #9 Georgia Bulldogs.  The goal post came down in Columbia once again.  The Gamecocks went on to beat a ranked Mississippi State team on the now famous Erik Kimrey fade.  In November they traveled to Death Valley with an 7-3 record and ranked in the top 25 for the first since 1987.

Woodrow Dantler

For Clemson, it was also a bounce back season. Quarterback Woodrow Dantzler had become one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in college football.  He gained over 1,000 yards on the ground, over 1,800 through the air, and contributed on 30 touchdowns.  The Tigers were 8-2 before the Carolina game but they had lost their last two games after climbing as high as #5 earlier in the season.

This would be one of the best and most infamous games in the history of the rivalry.

South Carolina kicker Jason Corse missed a 40-yard field goal on the game’s first possession, Clemson took over and went 77 yards on 17 plays, capped by Travis Zachery’s one-yard plunge with 4:25 remaining in the first quarter. Zachery ammassed 29 yards on seven carries during the drive

On the Gamecocks ensuing possession, Derek Watson darted up the middle and scored from 61 yards out to tie the game.

The Tigers regained the lead late in the second quarter.  On a 2nd and 5 play, Garnder caught a 40-yard pass from Dantzler at the South Carolina 4, setting up Aaron Hunt’s 22-yard boot with three seconds left before halftime.

Clemson’s defense began to make its mark in the third quarter by intercepting Phil Petty three times, including two by defensive back Alex Ardley. Defensive lineman Terry Jolly’s pick late in the third led to Hunt’s 31-yard field with just over 14 minutes remaining.

With 59 second left in the game, the Gamecocks finally took control.  Facing a 1st-and-goal at the Clemson 2, Derek Watson, who gained 150 yards on 25 carries, fumbled the ball as he was trying to reach over the goal line and Gamecocks tight end Thomas Hill recovered in the end zone.

South Carolina was poised for the victory after taking a 14-13 lead.

The Tigers had other plans.  With 19 seconds on the clock Clemson was facing a 3rd and 12 from their own 42.  Dantzler threw up a prayer and Rod Gardner hauled in the 49 yard pass which set up a game-winning field goal by Hunt with three seconds remaining.  Clemson escaped with a wild 16-14 victory over intrastate rival South Carolina.

Controversy arose on the big pass play.  Gardner appeared to create space between himself and USC cornerback Andre Goodman by extending his arms and pushing the defender away, an action that is against NCAA rules, but in the closing seconds of this game it wasn’t called by the SEC officiating crew.  It is a play that to this day is the most controversial in the history of the rivalry. It is know to Gamecocks fans as “The Push-Off” but to the boys in orange it lives on as “The Catch II”.

None the less, it was the Tigers fourth straight victory in the Battle of the Palmetto State.  However, after the Gamecocks pulled off one of the programs biggest victories in the Outback Bowl, beating Ohio State 24-7, on Jan 1st, 2001, the always faithful USC fans knew that the year they had been waiting for was just around the corner.

By Charles Fritz, News.sc

Check out Part 1 of our series on the Clemson vs. South Carolina Rivalry

Check out Part 2 of our series on the Clemson vs. South Carolina Rivalry

Check out Part 3 of our series on the Clemson vs. South Carolina Rivalry

Check out Part 4 of our series on the Clemson vs. South Carolina Rivalry

Check out Part 5 of our series on the Clemson vs. South Carolina Rivalry

Check out Part 6 of our series on the Clemson vs. South Carolina Rivalry

Come back and check out Part 8 of the series tomorrow as we discuss the 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 games, and feel free to share your memories of the rivalry with us.

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