By Will Vandervort, photo courtesy Clemson University.
By Will Vandervort
Today we continue our series of articles at theClemsonInisder.com that will take a look back at the best Clemson victories in the Clemson-South Carolina Rivalry. Over the next 10 days in leading up to the State’s Big Game, we will count down, in our opinion, the Tigers 10 best victories over the hated Gamecocks.
No. 9: Clemson 29, South Carolina 10 (November 19, 1988)
The chant started from one end of Frank Howard Field and soon it filled the whole stadium. “Rod-ney! Rod-ney! Rod-ney!”
The scoreboard above the west end zone stands even got into the act.
“It sounded a lot better this time,” Clemson quarterback Rodney Williams said after his Tigers beat South Carolina 29-10.
The year before Williams was greeted with a similar chant at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia. Except on that night, it had a negative connotation to it. His last pass, which was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by safety Brad Edwards, lifted the Gamecocks to a 20-7 victory, which got the 77,000 fans in Columbia that night to chant, “Raaahhdnee! Raaahhdnee!”
A Columbia area native and a graduate of Irmo High School, that night and that chant specifically, haunted the Tigers’ signal-caller for a whole year. But with 10:44 left in the 1988 tussle, Williams spun into the end zone to cap Clemson’s final scoring drive of the afternoon.
It was fitting that Williams scored the game-clinching touchdown, and that he did it the way those who remember watching him play know him for – running Danny Ford’s triple-option offense to near perfection.
“It was just a regular option,” Williams said. “We had been running it to both sides during the game, but we decided to run it to the weak side then.
“I came down and faked it to Tracy (Johnson). The defensive tackle took Tracy and the defensive end took Terry (Allen), and the tackle did a great job blocking the outside backer and making a seam for me.”
Williams had 43 of the Tigers’ 225 rushing yards on that wet afternoon in Clemson. His seven-yard touchdown on his final carry in Death Valley put Clemson securely in front 29-7. Usually calm and reserved, which sometimes Ford wished he was not, Williams finally showed some emotions by pumping his fist to the crowd and then hugging Ford as he came over to the side line.
“Scoring on my final play was a great thing to happen,” Williams said.
Williams, who won more games (32) at Clemson than any other Tigers’ quarterback, threw for 192 yards in his final game at Death Valley.
“Rodney played well, and he has excelled for us for a lot of different reasons,” Ford said after the game. “He has had a great four years with us, and we’re glad all of our seniors went out winners.”
But few in Death Valley have gone out the way Williams did. With a little more than four minutes to play, Ford let Williams take the field to start the last drive of the game, and then after one play, he substituted him for backup Chris Morocco.
As Williams jogged over to the sideline and was greeted with hugs and high-fives from his teammates and coaches, the 84,000 fans that were wearing orange in Death Valley stood to their feet and gave him a standing ovation, and soon the chants of “Rod-ney! Rod-ney! Rod-ney!” filled the stadium once again.
“I definitely like to know that they know my name,” Williams said. “But it means even more when they’re yelling your name because they appreciate you.”