HICKORY TAVERN – Deshaun Watson arrived in a private jet on Thursday night after starring in the Houston Texans’ NFL victory in Detroit. He immediately beat South Carolina with a 70-yard touchdown pass to former Clemson teammate Artavis Scott.
Gamecocks’ Jadeveon Clowney played the entire game. And I had four and a half bags to show off for a sunny afternoon in Laurens County.
How nice to see so many former players and coaches from Clemson and South Carolina giving up part of Thanksgiving for Big Secret Thursday.
Everything stops – shhhh! – (unofficially) keep a football series a little alive.
South Carolina’s defensive side Jadeveon Clowney (7) celebrates with fans after the Gamecocks’ 31-17 victory over Clemson in 2013. Clowney had 4½ sacks in a 2012 victory in Clemson. Richard Shiro / AP
Officially, of course, South Carolina and Clemson will not be playing this coronavirus-restricted season for the first time since 1909. Unfortunately, there is nothing these brave 2020 players can do about it.
But certain veterans of the rivalry insisted, agreeing to play as long as there were no cameras and had plenty of turkey and stuffing. They chose a perfectly quiet neutral spot, hidden off of Route 76, close to a walnut grove that gave the name to this road crossing.
Although roughly halfway between Death Valley and Williams-Brice Stadium, it is a little closer to Clemson, which is fair with Tigers having the advantage of playing at home on the original schedule.
These hilarious South Carolina students and their pranks! Some guys from the fraternity found out what was going on, bought fake T-shirts from Clemson and went on the pitch pretending to be the Tigers during a warm-up routine before the slapstick game similar to the 1961 game.
Some brilliant engineering students built a portable hill the exact size of The Hill for a classic Clemson entrance.
Former defenders Todd Ellis, Tommy Suggs, Woodrow Dantzler and Charlie Whitehurst came out for the coin toss.
CJ Spiller kicked off a Clemson touchdown.
And tricks! Stephon Gilmore, better known as a closed cornerback, completed a 39-yard pass as a wild South Carolina quarterback.
Then 1980: Again, safety Willie Underwood returned two interceptions for Clemson’s touchdowns.
Then 1987: Gamecocks’ Brad Edwards hit a Rodney Williams pass and shot 40 yards down the touchline for a touchdown.
Of course, Steve Taneyhill’s long curls were on display. Brentson Buckner was amused to loosen his hair under the Gamecock quarterback’s shoulder pads after a bag.
Taneyhill liked to sign his name on the orange tiger’s paw painted in midfield.
Secret Thursday
Thanksgiving football fit perfectly into the roots of the Great Thursday of rivalry.
Unfortunately, because of social distancing requirements, media credentials for Big-Secret Thursday have been limited to sports reporters from the state of Palmetto who have covered these programs since 1986. What an honor to get a seat in a press room the size of a phone booth.
The SEC tried to keep the rivalry week with Auburn-Alabama and other bragging rights games alive on Saturday. But the 10-game conference schedule eliminated the state of Florida-Florida, Georgia Tech-Georgia, Kentucky-Louisville and …
Well, many proud former Tigers and challenging Gamecocks are out there to see the end of a 111-year streak.
That includes running back Tavien Feaster, who played Thursday for both teams.
Rod Gardner of Clemson pushed Andre Goodman, but got a 50-yard reception.
The great George Rogers, winner of the South Carolina Heisman Trophy, ran 163 yards in the game (but didn’t score).
Mike Williams received a pass from Watson and carried a South Carolina defense almost 10 yards into the final zone.
Spencer Lanning, who grew up hoping to play for Clemson, kept the Tigers protected with thunderous punches for the Gamecocks.
Ford and Spurrier
Thanks to Tim Bourret, Clemson’s renowned sports advertiser over 40 years old. He stopped with new data: South Carolina-Clemson entering 2020 was the second largest uninterrupted series of college football, second only to Minnesota and Wisconsin playing for Paul Bunyan’s Ax. With the Gophers-Badgers series dropping out of COVID this week, Tigers and Gamecocks missed their chance to reach the top spot.
The title is now held by Wake Forest and NC State (110 games), followed by Kansas and Kansas State (109).
You could say that the former coaches were having a great time.
Danny Ford insisted that Clemson go out in orange pants.
Steve Spurrier was successful against Clemson, even replacing Dylan Thompson as quarterback, when Connor Shaw was a last-minute zero.
Tommy Bowden tried to get Clemson players to take assistant coach (and former Gamecocks coach) Brad Scott off the field.
Will Muschamp really liked Thursday’s kick-off. He reminded everyone that “Thanksgiving is a meal, not a day”.
Dabo Swinney was busy and was unable to attend. But Clemson’s coach sent his regards and a truck loaded with Krispy Kreme Casserole from his wife Kathleen Swinney as a post-game treat for everyone.
The score?
Oh, sure.
Three of them:
• Clemson, just like last summer, still leads series 71-42-4
• COVID 1, Carolina-Clemson 0
• 2021 ≥ 2020
Follow Gene Sapakoff on Twitter @sapakoff