Putting the hammer down: USC’s 1987 win over Clemson will always be a masterpiece

Temperatures had dipped into the high 30s by sundown and breath came in icy blasts on that Saturday night to remember. Most would agree: It wasn’t ideal for a night-time venture outdoors.

Yet, whether warmed by tailgating libations or buoyed by Christmas Eve-like anticipation with visions of sugar plums foremost in their thoughts, none in the masses descending on Williams-Brice Stadium that night cared about the weather.

Why should they? The atmosphere crackled with electricity.

South Carolina Carolina and Clemson were facing off in their annual football squabble that evening, and that normally would be enough to create the excitement. But this one — on Nov. 21, 1987 — promised to be more special than most.

South Carolina’s Gamecocks: 7-2, coached by Joe Morrison, ranked 12th nationally and on a five-game winning streak. They came armed with some of the program’s most storied offensive names — Todd Ellis, Sterling Sharpe, Ryan Bethea and Harold Green, to name a few — complemented by a defense stingier than Scrooge.

Clemson’s Tigers: 9-1, another Danny Ford powerhouse at No. 8 in the polls and another Atlantic Coast Conference championship secured. They featured a relentless group on offense featuring tailbacks Terry Allen and Wesley McFadden and an acclaimed defense built around Michael Dean Perry.

If this were basketball, it would be Magic against Bird. If baseball, Koufax on the mound against Aaron or Mays. In the prize ring, Dempsey against Tunney or Ali against Frazier. McEnroe against Borg at Wimbledon.

The Tigers landed the first haymaker. Then, almost nothing. After a 91-yard touchdown drive, Clemson mustered 75 yards on its remaining 47 plays.

Still, Clemson led into the second half until a couple of lightning bolts — a 77-yard pass play from Ellis to Bethea and Brad Edwards’ interception return for a touchdown — turned the tide.

After the long pass play set up the touchdown that put Carolina in front 13-7, Clemson had one more chance after a fumble recovery near midfield. But the Tigers managed one yard in three plays, the beginning of the end.

Edwards’ first interception — he had two on the night and four in his last two games against Clemson — represented the cherry atop the banana split in Carolina’s 20-7 triumph, a masterpiece the Gamecocks will always treasure.

1987 a Gamecock team to remember

Thirty-seven years later, the game still represents one of the most dominant performances by a Carolina team against a quality opponent.

After all, this Clemson team went 10-2, rolled over Penn State like a tidal wave 35-10 in the Citrus Bowl and completed the year ranked 12th. The Tigers finished ranked No. 2 in rushing defense and No. 5 in total defense in the national statistics.

But this Carolina team laid claim to the “program’s best ever” at that time and for years later, too. The Joe Lee Dunn-coached defense ranked second in scoring defense and third in total defense. They restricted that nationally ranked Clemson team to two first downs in the final 12 possessions and 166 yards total that frigid night at Williams-Brice.

The losses came against nationally ranked teams — Georgia, Nebraska, Miami and LSU.

“Their defensive front majors in confusion. ... They kept us off balance,” Clemson All-American offensive guard John Phillips told reporters after the 1987 game.

Indeed, descriptions of Dunn’s defenses include “blitzing” and “playing recklessly,” and blitzing led to Edwards’ first interception and touchdown return.

“Dunn called a blitz, bringing the house,” Edwards reflected in a 2007 interview. “I knew they were going to max-protect; that freed me from covering the tight end to help somewhere else.

“In that situation, there’s only two routes they can check to: the quick slant or the out. I peeked to the outside receiver (Keith Jennings); the quarterback tells you where he’s going with the ball.”

Edwards cut in from of the receiver, stole quarterback Rodney Williams’ pass and saw an open path to the end zone to put the finishing touch on a Carolina memory to treasure.

Is past prelude? That answer comes Saturday with the old rivals squaring off in eerily similar circumstances.

The site is different. This one at Clemson’s Memorial Stadium. The time, too; Saturday’s kickoff is shortly after noon.

But both teams are nationally ranked. And beyond the usual bragging rights, the winner could become involved in the national playoff conversation given the right set of results from other games.

Clemson fans will always have the Fuller-to-Butler game in 1977 or the Rod Gardner catch in 2000 to cherish. For the Gamecocks, there’s 1987 — a cold night never seemed so warm.

This story was originally published November 27, 2024 at 8:35 AM.