Clemson has a lot on the line when it plays at South Carolina. Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports
When Clemson’s Dabo Swinney won his first game as Clemson’s interim head coach against Boston College midway through the 2008 season, he was thinking only of earning win No. 2.
But less than 10 years later, Swinney has a chance to earn his 100th career victory when his No. 3 Tigers (10-1) face No. 24 South Carolina on Saturday night in the regular-season finale for both teams in Columbia.
“It’s a credit to the staff and players that we’ve had come through here,” Swinney said. “We’ve had a lot of success, obviously.”
A victory against the Gamecocks (8-3) would make Swinney only the fourth coach to win 100 games in his first 10 years, joining a select group that includes Bob Stoops, Urban Meyer and Chris Peterson.
Despite the success, Swinney is 4-5 against South Carolina.
“We haven’t done as good of a job with that goal,” Swinney said. “But I just want to win the game (Saturday). I don’t care if it’s the 104th win or the fourth win. We want to keep moving forward.”
Winning the Palmetto Bowl ranks high on Swinney’s list of priorities, and the significance of the state championship game isn’t lost on the Tigers’ coach.
“We’ve got the season,” Swinney said. “And then we’ve got South Carolina.”
Swinney, an Alabama native and former player for the Crimson Tide, is well aware of the intensity of rivalry week.
“I lived in Alabama for 33 years and there’s zero difference in this state — year-round, that’s all people talk about, it’s just different logos,” Swinney said. “It’s the same type of intensity and emotion.
“It didn’t take me long to figure out that this rivalry was just as intense. In March of 2003, when I went on the road recruiting for the first time (for Clemson), I quickly figured it out. Everywhere I went people were either happy to see me or they looked at me like I had a big wart on my nose.”
South Carolina lost last year’s game at Clemson, 56-7, but the Gamecocks were a 6-6 team under first-year coach Will Muschamp. This year, South Carolina has reversed its fortune, building an 8-3 record by winning five of its last six games.
“We’re a deeper football team,” Muschamp said. “We have more depth. We’re an older football team. This football team competes. That’s one thing when you turn the tape on, you will see great effort.”
Swinney has seen as much.
“He’s done a great job,” Swinney said. “They weren’t very good when he got there and the first year he took them to a bowl game and this year they’re 8-3. They’ve got bigger goals and he’s made good progress.”
The Gamecocks rely on a solid run defense to keep games close, then hope that sophomore quarterback Jake Bentley can make plays.
“He’s a very good player, a great competitor,” Swinney said. “He’s got some craftiness to him. Time and again on tape you think he’s sacked and somehow he breaks free. And when he scrambles, he finds guys. He’s got a nice arm.”
Swinney also cited the Gamecocks’ improved offensive line play — “that’s why they’re 8-3,” Swinney said — and emphasized that his team must keep close tabs on tight end Hayden Hurst.
“He can play at the next level,” Swinney said “He’s a multi-dimensional player.”
Protecting Bentley will be job No. 1 for the Gamecocks.
Clemson boasts a deep and talented defense that ranks second nationally in sacks, third in scoring defense, sixth in tackles for loss and seventh in total defense.
“Those guys are very disruptive in the run and pass game,” Muschamp said. “We have to negate the front and block those guys; that’s the bottom line. That’s going to be the key to the game for us offensively.
“You don’t want to get into a one-dimensional game with this group. They do a really good job of pressuring the quarterback, and if they know you’re going to be in a throw situation the entire game, it’s going to be a long day. You’ve got to stay balanced.”
South Carolina must contend with a diverse Clemson offense that once again ranks among the best in the nation despite losing quarterback Deshaun Watson and several other offensive stars off last season’s national championship team.
Junior quarterback Kelly Bryant makes the Tigers go, and he’s blessed with a multitude of weapons, including receivers Deon Cain, Hunter Renfrow and Ray-Ray McCloud, and big-play running backs Travis Etienne and Tavien Feaster.
“Kelly Bryant has been outstanding,” Muschamp said. “He has 154 carries, not all designed quarterback runs. He creates a lot of issues for you in off-rhythm plays. He’s had 300 attempts and he’s completed 66 percent of his passes. He really plays good football.”
Both teams are playing good football, which has heightened anticipation for this showdown. Clemson, which already has punched its ticket to face Miami in the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 2, is on the cusp of its third consecutive berth in the College Football Playoff.
South Carolina is playing for an attractive bowl bid and would love nothing more than to play spoiler to Clemson’s national title hopes.
“There’s a lot of emotion tied to the game, but at the end of the day emotion’s not going to win the game — it’s players making plays,” Swinney said. “There’s a little more juice in this game, there always is. But at the end of the day, the same thing that wins every other game will win this game.”
