In the past, when Clemson has traveled to Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia to play rival South Carolina, there has been issues with Gamecock fans throwing water bottles, Coke bottles and other objects at the Tigers during pregame warmups and even during the game.
During his post-practice media availability Wednesday evening, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was asked if he has had any talks with the administration about maintaining safety for his players when the Tigers return to Williams-Brice to renew their rivalry against the Gamecocks at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
“Well, that’s other people… I hope everybody will enjoy the game and we won’t have any stuff like that,” Swinney said. “Nobody wants that. But I’ll let the people who are in charge of that worry about that. I’m just worried about getting our team ready.”
During Clemson’s 34-10 win over South Carolina in 2017, Swinney was flagged with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when he lit into the officials after watching Hunter Renfrow get hit by a Coca-Cola bottle following a second-quarter touchdown reception.
Swinney sought after the officials in the game and demanded they put a stop to the nonsense coming out of the South Carolina student section.
“It was disappointing,” Swinney said after the 2017 game. “I know that is not a representation of the people of South Carolina. I have a lot of friends and people that I know that are great people that are South Carolina fans. It was just disappointing to see that and it’s dangerous.”
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