After another strong week for Clemson football, where they took down No.20 North Carolina 31-20 on Senior Day in front of their home crowd, the Tigers have another tough task as they prepare for Rivalry Week and a matchup against South Carolina.
Clemson and South Carolina are preparing for their 120th matchup against each other, with this one taking place at Williams-Brice Stadium next Saturday in Columbia. The Tigers are looking for revenge after last season’s 31-30 loss in Death Valley that shocked fans and the program.
It was a huge loss for multiple reasons. The loss ended two streaks for the Tigers: a seven-game winning streak over the Gamecocks and a 40-game home winning streak. In one day, against their biggest rivals, Clemson lost two big streaks.
This is a big week for Clemson, but it’s not just them. All over the country, rivalry games will take place, and battles will commence.
“You got all kinds of games like this going on throughout the country, and it is a fun week,” Swinney said. “It really is, but for me personally, being a part of thirteen Alabama-Auburn games, those are special memories and the intensity of it.
“Then you come up here, and I am going on my twenty-first Clemson-South Carolina game. I have a lot of great memories, and I got some bad ones. That’s kind of why it is a rivalry game, but it means a lot to a lot of people.”
Far and wide, teams face off in what many will consider their biggest game of the season. These are games programs not only look forward too but live and die for. These are the games you’re most desperate to win.
“That is why it is a goal of its own. It is kind of a season of its own,” Swinney said. “Regardless of what your record is, whether you are undefeated or you have not won a single game. This week is unique and different. The preparation is the same, but it is just a game that everybody is going to live with for the next year, and you are going to hear about it all the time.
“It is great to win it, and it stinks when you don’t, that’s for sure.”
Clemson will look to get revenge on the road this season.