Tavien Feaster honors late Clemson teammates in final college game, takes a look back
Tavien Feaster’s final season of his college career did not go the way he planned.
The former Clemson running back transferred to South Carolina over the summer in search of more playing time and hoped to help the Gamecocks to a strong 2019 campaign.
Instead, it was a rough year for a USC team that finished off its season with a 38-3 loss to No. 3 Clemson Saturday afternoon to fall to 4-8.
But just as Feaster did throughout the year, the Spartanburg native ran hard against his former team and did so while thinking of a couple of former teammates.
Feaster had No. 22 and No. 27 on his eye black in honor of former Clemson teammates C.J. Fuller (27) and Tyshon Dye (22) as he led South Carolina with 47 rushing yards against the Tigers.
Fuller died last October from blood clots in his lungs and legs, while Dye drowned in July.
The tribute was special for Clemson co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach Tony Elliott to see.
“After the game I went up and gave him a big hug... He had 27 and 22 on his eye black underneath his eye, and that stands for C.J. Fuller and Tyshon Dye. Those are his brothers that passed away this past year,” Elliott said. “I’m not going to let a rivalry come between family. For those three hours we were on different sides, but afterwards he’s one of mine, and I love him.”
Elliott made shirts for his running backs this season as a way to remember Dye and Fuller. Even though Feaster spent this year with South Carolina, Elliott plans to make sure Feaster gets one as well.
Feaster and Dye were teammates in 2016, while Feaster and Fuller were teammates in 2016 and 2017.
“I made some shirts for my guys and sent them to Tyshon’s family and it really just talks about what our core philosophy is. We want to be the heartbeat of the team,” Elliott said. “I put their pictures on the back just as a reminder that at the end of the day it’s not about stats, it’s not about an individual. It’s about the unit. And those guys, they gave us a chance to our program and they deserve to be remembered.”
Feaster, who helped Clemson win a pair of national titles before transferring from the program, finished his senior season with a team-high 672 rushing yards and five touchdowns in 10 games.
He missed a pair of games with injuries, an area that hurt the Gamecocks all season. Still, Feaster was able to look at the positives after playing his final college game.
“It’s been a blessing to be able to play college football. It’s the last game of my college career, so I’m just very thankful for the program,” Feaster said. “For me, I came in here and played my hardest, gave it my all, gave the program my all for the short stint I was here. Wins and losses, it didn’t happen for us. We lost more than we won. But program wise we’re heading in the right direction.”
Elliott would have liked for Feaster to finish his career with the Tigers, but he also understood Feaster wanting more carries instead of playing behind one of the best backs in the country in Travis Etienne.
Feaster’s eye black on Saturday was just further confirmation to Elliott that friendship and love is bigger than football.
“He’s one of mine. He graduated. He gave me three years of everything that he had. He was a great ambassador for our program. A great leader in our meeting room,” Elliott said. “And at the end of the day I may not have agreed with the decision or liked the decision, but it wasn’t my decision to make. My job is to love the young men that I coach, and he did everything that I asked him to do.”
