Clemson win still ‘monumental’ for South Carolina football, Shane Beamer says
Since his first day as South Carolina’s football coach, Shane Beamer has recognized the year-round importance of the USC-Clemson rivalry.
Now, for the first time, he’s getting to cash in on the security that comes with beating your in-state rival — and he’s loving every second of it.
Speaking Thursday at the SEC Football Media Days in Nashville, Beamer said the 2023 offseason is “definitely more enjoyable” thanks to USC’s 31-30 win over Clemson last year.
In defeating the Tigers on their home field last season, South Carolina snapped a seven-game losing streak against its No. 1 rival and won a second straight game against a top 10 opponent.
Behind huge games from quarterback Spencer Rattler and wide receiver Antwane Wells Jr., the Gamecocks also snapped Clemson’s ACC-record 40-game home winning streak and eliminated the Tigers from College Football Playoff contention.
“It’s definitely more enjoyable in South Carolina, being able to be out and about and in the community,” Beamer said. “It’s fun. I know how important that rivalry is — I’ve said that before. … Whenever you win that, whether it be Carolina-Clemson or any rivalry game, when you win it, it makes living in that state a lot better without a doubt.”
“So certainly I’ve enjoyed it but again … like I tell our players, I’m not going around patting myself on the back. That’s in the past and now we gotta figure out how to do it more often.”
South Carolina’s upset of Clemson was the cherry on top of a dazzling end-of-season stretch. The Gamecocks failed to score an offensive touchdown in a blowout loss to Florida that dropped them to 6-4 — only to follow that up with back-to-back wins against No. 5 Tennessee and No. 8 Clemson.
It was the first time in school history USC won back-to-back games over top 10 teams, as well as only the seventh time in AP history that an unranked team had toppled top 10 opponents in back-to-back weeks — and the first time since 2003.
In the win over Clemson, South Carolina trailed 14-0 after one quarter, 23-14 at halftime and 30-21 late in the third quarter before outscoring Clemson 10-0 the rest of the way in Death Valley.
Rattler’s long touchdown pass to Wells, kicker Mitch Jeter’s go-ahead field goal and safety Nick Emmanwori’s fumble recovery were among the late highlights in a game that, along with the Tennessee win, was “monumental” in helping establish USC in Beamer’s second season.
Coach Dabo Swinney’s program had previously won seven straight games against USC, including a 30-0 shutout win in 2021 and five consecutive wins by 21 or more points.
“Coming off that win in Columbia against Tennessee, to not just go on the road the next week and win but to be down 14-0 on the road to Clemson and come back and win that game, that’s what I’m so proud of,” Beamer said. “Because human nature would have been to say, ‘Well, it’s just not our day’ … But our guys battled back, so to me the mental toughness and fortitude our guys showed that day was awesome.”
Clemson win still ‘means a lot’
Punter Kai Kroeger, one of South Carolina’s three player representatives at SEC media days, said the dramatics of the game “did a justice” to the longtime in-state rivalry.
“It’s like pure hatred, almost,” Kroeger said. “I came from a place where there were rivalries, but it wasn’t that serious so I didn’t really understand it. You come here and you do not talk to anybody that wears orange.”
“That game was unbelievable, especially being able to contribute the way I did was awesome. So that game I’m not going to forget forever, for sure.”
Defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway, who played in-state at Conway High School, added: “It means a lot. Especially being a rivalry like that … I’ve got family members who like Clemson and things like that, so getting that win (was) a good talking point.”
Beating Clemson was a highlight within USC’s 8-4 season, but last year also wasn’t without its issues. Outside of the aforementioned Florida loss, South Carolina wasn’t anywhere close to competitive in 41-point home loss against eventual national champion Georgia; lost at home to an unranked Missouri squad a week after entering the top 25; and closed the year with a shootout loss to Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl.
South Carolina will get a chance to defend its silver Palmetto Bowl trophy on Saturday Nov. 25, when Clemson visits Columbia for the teams’ traditional meeting on Thanksgiving weekend.
“We understand we have got a lot of work to do, too,” Beamer said. “Yes, we had those two great wins but … that’s also the same team that didn’t score an offensive touchdown the week before against Florida as well. We have got to be more consistent, starting with me. But certainly there’s a lot that you can take from those two games that will help us going forward.”
This story was originally published July 21, 2023 at 8:00 AM.
