South Carolina enters Saturday’s Palmetto Bowl with a staggering number looming over the rivalry: 4,382 days. That’s how long it has been since the Gamecocks last defeated Clemson at Williams-Brice Stadium. The drought dates back to Nov. 30, 2013, when the teams were still playing for the Hardee’s Trophy, long before the matchup formally became the Palmetto Bowl.
Since that victory, South Carolina has hosted Clemson five times—and the results have been lopsided. The Tigers have outscored the Gamecocks 155-52 in Columbia over that span. Yet, under head coach Shane Beamer, a strange pattern has emerged.
Beamer owns two rivalry wins, both on the road at Clemson Memorial Stadium, while both of his losses have come at home. He refuses to put stock in the home-road trend, instead joking, “I tend to look at it as I’m undefeated in 12-noon games and I haven’t won at night.”
This year’s 122nd Palmetto Bowl kicks off at noon ET on SEC Network, a slot that plays into Beamer’s joke—but he knows his team’s struggles at home against Clemson are very real. South Carolina has scored just seven total points in its last two home rivalry games. Clemson, meanwhile, has put up 46, including the infamous 30-0 shutout in 2021, Beamer’s first Palmetto Bowl as head coach—a game he’d prefer to wipe from memory.
Even so, Beamer believes the rivalry has been razor-thin in recent seasons. The last three meetings have been decided by just 13 combined points, with both Carolina wins coming by three or fewer.
Reflecting on last year’s 16-7 loss, Beamer admitted, “’23 was a dog fight. We did not do much offensively, to say the least.”
South Carolina held Clemson to four field goals, but the Tigers’ lone touchdown came just 35 seconds into the game on a backward pass from Spencer Rattler to Xavier Legette that Clemson’s Khalil Barnes returned 42 yards for a score. Beamer put it bluntly: “We held them to field goals in the red zone, but didn’t play great.”
For the seniors, Saturday’s opportunity carries emotional weight. Myrtle Beach native Luke Doty said winning his final home game—and breaking the decade-long drought—would be special.
“It’d be awesome. It’d be awesome for this senior class… Just being able to go out like that is something you always dream of.”
Columbia native DQ Smith grew up understanding what this rivalry meant to people around him, and to him, beating Clemson at home would mark a defining moment.
“Just knowing the history of the two schools competing… Being able to win that game in a stadium that we play all our games in would be amazing.”
Defensive back Jalon Kilgore, who learned about the rivalry growing up in Georgia, still remembers watching DJ Swearinger’s massive hit on Clemson’s Andre Ellington in 2011—an early taste of just how intense the game can be.
Beamer expects to see plenty of orange in Williams-Brice on Saturday, just like garnet crowds travel well to Clemson. But for him, the solution is simple: preparation and execution.
He admitted the home losing streak surprised him, saying on Carolina Calls, “It’s surprising (that it’s been since 2013), but there’s been some great Clemson teams that have come in here… we haven’t played well, and they have.”
Still, Beamer knows the magnitude of the moment: “Certainly you want to win your rivalry game, and you really want to win your rivalry game at home in front of your fans. Hopefully, we can start a new streak this weekend.”
