MORE THAN JUST A RIVALRY
By Jeremy Cauthen
There are 129 miles that separate the University of South Carolina and Clemson University. The South Carolina-Clemson
football game is the third longest uninterrupted series in College Football. It may be lacking in national prominence,
but the annual Palmetto Bowl is just as hate-filled as Auburn-Alabama, Michigan-Ohio State, and Georgia-Florida.
The animosity between Clemson University and the University of South Carolina really began when Clemson Univeristy was
founded. In the 1880s, South Carolina politician Benjamin Tillman became angry that there was no emphasis on agricultural
education at the University of South Carolina. Tillman pledged to create a separate agricultural university in the state.
With the help of Thomas Clemson, the Clemson Agricultural College was founded in 1889.
Jay McCormick, a doctoral candidate at USC, explains the animosity between the two univerisities by saying, "There's
a history of bad blood between these institutions. So when athletics came to Carolina and Clemson, it was natural that
they should be a rivalry. The rivalry extends back to political and social origins. It's not just an athletic
rivalry. It's a manifestation of these things."
South Carolina won the first football game between the two schools (a 12-6 victory in 1896). South Carolina also
won by the same score in 1902, but the riot that broke out after the game was more memorable. The brawl began because
of a poster that Carolina students were carrying around town after the victory. The poster was of a Gamecock riding
a Tiger and steering him with his tail (pictured to the right). This angered Clemson students and fans. They fought
back. Eventually the poster had to be burned. As a result of this incident the rivalry was suspended until 1909.
Today, the rivalry is still one of the best in the nation.