Clemson considers South Carolina a rival, not Ohio

Last year, there was a lot of back and forth between the Clemson and Ohio state fan bases.

With the two teams set to face each other this weekend at the Sugar Bowl for the third time in the past five years, some may be tempted to call the series an emerging rivalry. Especially considering the fact that all three games will have taken place at Colégio Futebol Playoff.

However, Tigers are currently 3-0 against Buckeyes under coach Dabo Swinney and 4-0 at all times. While some fans may consider this a rivalry, particularly on the Ohio side, Clemson’s wide receiver Amari Rodgers doesn’t see it that way at all.

“Not for me, to be honest,” said Rodgers on Tuesday. “This is nothing like the South Carolina rivalry or any other game that we can see as a rivalry. You know, I feel like they have more problems with us than we do with them, so this is really their fault for being honest.”

Rodgers says the Tigers certainly saw some of the conversations last year and that while that can be used as a motivation, the culture within the Clemson program makes them gear up to do their best each week, regardless of the opponent.

“We see it, everybody sees it in the media and things like that,” said Rodgers. “We use that as a motivation, but at the end of the day, we’re just playing for each other and playing for Clemson and our standard, which is the best. So that’s what we do every day, go out and prepare for our standard.”

Rodgers says the Tigers are treating this confrontation as they would any other game on the schedule, and just because the two teams have faced each other a lot in recent years, that doesn’t make them rivals. At least not in the eyes of the Tigers.

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