Finebaum: Clemson program was ‘teetering’ during South Carolina’s run
By: will-vandervort July 1, 2019

Paul Finebaum loves talking about Clemson.

The ESPN personality said Monday Clemson’s program was “teetering” after it lost its fifth straight game to rival South Carolina in 2013.

Really?

Teetering?

Granted, the Clemson faithful did not like the fact the Tigers’ lost for a fifth straight year to a program they’ve owned throughout history, one that prior to that run had not beaten Clemson in back-to-back years since 1970. But I would not classify the state of the Clemson football program, at the time, as teetering.

Clemson was coming off an Orange Bowl victory over Ohio State following the 2013 season and just completed a second straight 11-2 campaign with a top 10 finish. In Columbia, they buy championship rings for that kind of year.

It was obvious Clemson’s program was on the way up. There was nothing hanging in the balance.

Finebaum was on a Birmingham, Alabama radio station (WJOX) Monday when the conversation turned to the South Carolina-Clemson rivalry. The SEC Network analyst and talk show host was asked about the state of the South Carolina program and if head coach Will Muschamp was in danger of losing his job if the Gamecocks have a bad season.

He was then asked if Clemson’s rise to national prominence has made Muschamp’s job that much harder in Columbia.

“The difference is that South Carolina, under that other guy Steve Spurrier who Carolina fans want to trash, had won five straight over Dabo Swinney,” Finebaum said, according to an article on the Big Spur.com. “We were talking about Clemsoning and the program teetering. And now that Swinney is going for a sixth straight, it has made Gamecock Nation wrought with jealousy and pure hatred for Clemson.

“It’s stunning to watch that, and they can’t believe it.”

Again, not sure where the “Clemsoning” comes into play when you’re talking about 2013. The Tigers just completed their third straight 10-win season (it’s now at eight) and the only two teams Clemson lost to in 2013 were to favorites Florida State and South Carolina in Columbia. In fact, Clemson was already on its run of 46-straight wins over unranked teams.

After beating LSU and Ohio State in back-to-back bowl games, “Clemsoning” was being thrown out with the wash.

As for South Carolina fans being in a state of shock that they have not beaten Clemson in five years, that’s laughable. Gamecock fans are used to losing to Clemson. Maybe not when Spurrier was there, but at any other time they were.

What’s happened in the last five years is the norm in the Clemson-South Carolina rivalry. Trust me, I was born in this state. You either pull for Clemson or South Carolina and, pretty much, Clemson always wins.

Clemson has beaten South Carolina more than any team in its proud history, including Wake Forest, and has a 70-42-4 advantage in the all-time series. Before the Gamecocks’ run under Spurrier, the Tigers won 10 out of the previous 12 meetings.

Since South Carolina has been in Finebaum’s all-mighty SEC, Clemson owns a 17-10 advantage in the series and has won 29 of the last 43 meetings (29-13-1), beginning in 1976. That’s nearly a 70-percent win percentage, so Gamecock fans are used to losing to Clemson.