By Will Vandervort.
By Will Vandervort
CLEMSON — So far in their four years at Clemson, the 2012 senior class has established a new record for conference victories, won the ACC Atlantic Division three of the last four years, won an ACC Championship, was the first group to win 10 games in a season in back-to-back years since 1992, became the first class to win 10 games during the regular season since 1981…etc. The list goes on and on.
But there is one thing this year’s senior class has not accomplished at Clemson – it has not beat archrival South Carolina. The Tigers will try to accomplish that Saturday at 7:15 p.m. in Death Valley, while trying to avoid being the second Clemson class in the long history of the rivalry to lose four years in a row.
“It’s a long list of things that this group has accomplished, a long list,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “But, the one thing they haven’t got done, they have not beat South Carolina. The list of things they haven’t gotten done is very short. But, that’s a biggie for them.”
That’s all Dalton Freeman hears about when he goes back home to Pelion, S.C., which is located 15 minutes down the road from Columbia in Lexington County. So far, his Tigers have fallen short in a 34-17 loss in 2009, a 29-7 defeat in ’10 and a 34-13 beat down in Columbia last year.
“It’s been awful going home these past three years so I’m definitely looking to change that,” the Clemson center said. “It just hasn’t been much fun, but they beat us and there’s no way around it.”
The only way to ease the pain from the sting the last three years is to beat the 12th-ranked Gamecocks Saturday night.
“When you grow up in South Carolina that’s all you hear. It’s Clemson-Carolina, who is better? Who did this,” said tight end Brandon Ford, who grew up in Wando, S.C. near Charleston. “They have beaten us three years in a row, and we can’t do anything to change that until Saturday.”
One thing is certain though, this senior class will do everything in their power to change those misfortunes for ninth-ranked Clemson. This is a class that could have given up when then head coach Tommy Bowden was let go halfway through the 2008 season.
But guys like Freeman and defensive back Xavier Brewer, who were being redshirted at the time, stayed with the program and have become strong leaders in the locker room. Safety Jonathan Meeks and linebacker Corico Wright were being recruited that year, and after talking with Swinney they decided to come to Clemson and help change the culture and make the program a championship one, again.
“It was a very bumpy ride at first, but you have to go through that at times to get to where you are going in life,” Wright said. “Everything isn’t going to be pretty or easy. You have to put in the work and grind it out for a couple of years. Then, and only then, you will get the results you want.
“Coach Swinney has done a great job instilling that in us and making sure we stay on course. We are just doing what we are supposed to do, and sticking with the formula for success he has laid out for us. If we do that, everything else will handle itself.”
Freeman says he started believing in Swinney and his classmates the day Swinney walked into that first meeting after Bowden was let go and put that sign down in front of them that said, “Believe.”
“From Day One, I have believed in what he was telling us,” Freeman said. “I think it is obvious the kind of transition he has made in this program from the inside, out. He has really recruited the right kind of guys. Not only great players, but great character guys, and I think that has played into the success of the program.”
The 2012 seniors will look for their 36th overall victory Saturday, but if they can get this one, it will be perhaps the sweetest one of them all.
“There’s a lot at stake and not only because it’s our last game or the rivalry game or whatever, but we’ve done a ton as a senior class and we kind of took the lid off this program and we’ve accomplished so many things, but one of them is not beating South Carolina,” Freeman said. “We need to accomplish that and also put ourselves in position to be in a BCS bowl game.”