COLUMBIA – For the first time since 1981, Clemson is 12-0. With a 37-32 victory over South Carolina, the Tigers have gone completely undefeated in the regular season.

In the first half of the game, Clemson’s defense held the Gamecocks to three points and 150 total yards, but they allowed South Carolina to score 29 points in the second half as the rivals ended the game with 402 yards of total offense and scored the most points they have in a game all season.

“Defensively, it was a tale of two halves. We were pretty dominant in the first half and then the second half we gave up some big plays, especially on some second-and-longs,” head coach Dabo Swinney said.

Despite allowing South Carolina (3-9) to make the game interesting at the start of the fourth quarter, Clemson’s defense was still able to get the job done when it counted the most.

“We didn’t get the same South Carolina that played The Citadel last week. We got their very best. We tip our hats off to South Carolina because they put up a very good fight, but we got the job done,” defensive end Kevin Dodd said.

Dodd recorded five solo tackles, two of which were tackles for losses. All of those tackles came in the last half of the game.

“Coach gave me the opportunity to go out and rush the passer and that wasn’t the case throughout the beginning of the game. Basically he just gave me a go call, a green light and I took on the tackle and made a play,” Dodd said.

One of his best plays came when South Carolina had the ball on their 16-yard line in the last three minutes of the game. Dodd helped with a three-and-out to help run the clock down to 1:43. First he tackled tailback Shon Carson for no gain on the play, and then sacked quarterback Perry Orth for a loss of six yards after Orth threw an incomplete pass on the previous play.

“I wanted to make every play, but that play was critical,” Dodd said. “I’m just thankful that I got the chance to do that. Coach had me out there and he called my number and he gave me the green light.”

Orth rushed for a first down after that, but after further review, it was ruled that he was a yard short, so the Tigers got the ball on South Carolina’s 25-yard line. The defensive play on that drive helped Clemson get the field position necessary for kicker Greg Huegel to make a field goal while running down the clock.

“I kind of knew that it wasn’t a first down because I was pursuing to the ball as I was getting on the ground and the knee was down, so I wanted the coach to challenge the spot and we did,” Dodd said.

Clemson has accomplished many goals in its perfect regular season, but the Tigers know they have a lot of work ahead of them as they continue on their quest to the National Championship. Clemson will now head to Charlotte to compete against North Carolina for the ACC title on Dec. 5.

“It’s special. Now we can look back on it and we won 12 games, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do. We’re trying to get that 15, so we’re trying to punch ourselves a ticket to the playoffs. Hopefully we can get that done next week,” Dodd said.