Whether Clemson supporters needed the pep talk given how long the wait has been is debatable. But with the latest rendition of the Palmetto Bowl set for an early start, Dabo Swinney delivered the plea anyway.
“I know a lot of people don’t like anoon game and all of that stuff, but we need the biggest noon crowd we’ve ever had,” Swinney said in reference to Clemson’s home game against in-state rival South Carolina on Saturday. “Come Friday if you can come Friday. Pitch a tent. Whatever. Let’s have a great crowd and let’s be ready.”
They’ve had four years to get there.
Normally, the site of the annual rivalry game alternates between Clemson’s Memorial Stadium and Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia each year. So after Clemson won at South Carolina to end the 2019 regular season, the game was slated to shift back to Clemson the following year.
But the Tigers lost the chance to host Carolina that season when the SEC implemented a conference-only schedule for its teams in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The teams stayed consistent with that alternating-years model when the series resumed last season, so Clemson again made the trip to Columbia and blanked the Gamecocks to run its winning streak in the rivalry to seven. When the Tigers try for what would be a series-record eighth straight victory over the Gamecocks on Saturday, they’ll do so in the first Palmetto Bowl played at Memorial Stadium since 2018.
“I can’t wait,” sophomore linebacker Barrett Carter said. “I think this game is always marked on the schedule for all Clemson fans just because they know just how intense the rivalry is. I don’t think the time of the kickoff matters with the energy there. Whether it’s a noon kick or if it’s a 7:30 p.m. kick, it’s going to be rocking there. I’m excited for the atmosphere.”
With that long of a wait in between home rivalry games, most of Clemson’s players have yet to experience gameday against South Carolina…
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