Note: The following appears in the Stanford football gameday program.
Editor’s Note – Last season, Dabo Swinney became the winningest coach in Clemson history when he led the Tigers to a win over Notre Dame. It was his 166th career win, one more than Frank Howard had between 1940-69. In each gameday program this season, Tim Bourret reviews an important victory in Swinney’s head-coaching career. Today, we recall Clemson’s win over South Carolina in 2014.
Years from now when historians are looking at the importance of the 2014 Clemson vs. South Carolina game, they may wonder what was the big deal. A look to the South Carolina schedule that year shows the Gamecocks were just 6-5 entering the game and Clemson was 8-3. Neither team was ranked in the top 20.
But when you look at the history of the series and how Clemson advanced with its program over the next six years, it becomes obvious.
Clemson had lost five games in a row to its Palmetto State rival from 2009-13, the longest losing streak for the Tigers against South Carolina in history.
While Clemson had averaged 9.4 wins per year during those five seasons, won an ACC title for the first time in 20 years and had four top-25 finishes, including top-10 final rankings in 2012 and 2013, South Carolina had recorded three consecutive 11-win seasons and top-10 finishes from 2011-13, firsts in its history.
Clemson opened the 2014 season with a loss at Georgia and lost at top-ranked and defending national champion Florida State in overtime in the third game.
The Tigers got back on track with freshman quarterback Deshaun Watson. He had six passing touchdowns in his first career start against North Carolina, then accounted for four touchdowns in a 41-0 drubbing of NC State.
But injuries slowed Watson’s incredible freshman season. He suffered a broken hand early in the Louisville game, but the Tigers still won four games in a row behind Cole Stoudt, who was the starter to begin the season.
It was deemed that Watson was healthy enough to start at No. 23 Georgia Tech, who was having an outstanding year thanks to a great defense. But early in the game in Atlanta, Watson suffered a knee injury and was lost for the rest of the game. The Yellow Jackets won handily 28-6, Clemson’s third loss of the year.
No one knew for sure how serious Watson’s injury was. The next week, he was held out in a 28-0 win over Georgia State. His health was a major story the week leading up to the rivalry game. It became a national story after the game.
South Carolina took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a run by Pharoh Cooper, but Clemson came back with 21 straight points before halftime.
Watson hit classmate Artavis Scott on a 53-yard passing touchdown, then Wayne Gallman scored on a five-yard run. In the last five minutes of the second quarter, Watson guided Clemson on another touchdown drive that he finished with a one-yard run.
Watson and Scott combined on a 70-yard touchdown catch with 4:30 left in the third quarter that gave Clemson the momentum again. The teams traded touchdowns in the fourth quarter and Clemson cruised to a 35-17 win.
It was the first time Clemson celebrated a victory over the rival Gamecocks in five years, and they did so with a trio of freshmen on offense who had a record-breaking day. Watson completed 14-19 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns. Scott had seven catches for 185 yards and two touchdowns, the most receiving yards by a Tiger in Death Valley and the most receiving yards by a Tiger against South Carolina.
Gallman had 191 yards on 27 carries, giving Clemson a 250-yard passer, 180-yard receiver and 180-yard rusher in the same game for the first time in history.
These were great storylines, but the story of the day was made in the postgame interviews, as Head Coach Dabo Swinney revealed that Watson played the game with a torn ACL. It was the first time I could recall a Tiger playing a football game with a torn ACL since Mike Eppley played the entire season with that injury in 1984.
It proved to be a landmark day for the Clemson program. The Tigers went on to trounce Oklahoma in the Russell Athletic Bowl 40-6 behind Stoudt, who earned game MVP honors.
The next season, Clemson began a streak of six straight seasons reaching the College Football Playoff, still the only school to reach the CFP six consecutive years.
