It was 20 years ago today that nearly 10,000 or so Clemson fans inside Williams-Brice Stadium gathered in the corner with the Clemson players, coaches and Tiger Band and broke out into a chant – “Tom-my Bow-den! Tom-my Bow-den!”
Three weeks earlier they were chanting something totally different following a 45-17 loss at Wake Forest. Unlike that cold night in Columbia on November 22, 2003, Tiger fans were asking for their head coach’s head. But a surprising 26-10 victory over No. 3 Florida State the next week, a rout of Duke and then a win over South Carolina that only needs to be introduced by its score—63-17—took Tommy Bowden off the hot seat and up on a pedestal.
The Tigers’ 63 points that night are still the most points scored by either team in the 119-year history of the rivalry game.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” said current Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, who was Bowden’s wide receivers coach in that game. “We were hot. We hit on some big plays. We hit Ben Hall right out of the gate. We hit Airese [Currie], Derrick Hamilton, we just made a lot of play. Kevin Youngblood, Chad Jazmin and the guys. That was a wild game. Chansi Stuckey ended up going in (for a touchdown), as he played some as our backup quarterback for Charlie [Whitehurst]. He had a long run.”
The 46-point margin is the second largest, only passed by Clemson’s 49-point win over the Gamecocks in 2016.
By the way, both are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in terms of margin of victory for an ACC team over an SEC team all-time.
“We proved a point that he is our coach and he is going to be the coach here,” linebacker John Leake said after the game. “And I’m happy for Coach Bowden.”
Bowden was happy the minute the game started because the Tigers went on the attack right off the bat. Whitehurst, who was 7-for-7 for 149 yards in the first quarter, threw three touchdown passes—36 yards to Derrick Hamilton, 28 yards to Airese Currie and 39 yards to Ben Hall—on Clemson’s first three possessions. He later led the Tigers on two more scoring drives in the second quarter for a 35-10 halftime lead.
Clemson’s Ben Hill races to the end zone to score a touchdown on a pass from Charlie Whitehurst in the first quarter against South Carolina on Saturday, November 22, 2003 at Williams-Brice Stadium. in Columbia. (File Photo)
Whitehurst, who is the only quarterback on either side of the rivalry to go 4-0 in the series, completed 18 of 26 passes for 302 yards and four touchdowns. He also threw a 27-yard scoring pass to Duane Coleman in the third quarter to give Clemson a 49-17 lead at the time.
“We took advantage of our opportunities, and the coaches did a great job calling the game,” Whitehurst recalled. “The first two touchdowns were wide open, and that is a credit to the coaches.”
But it just wasn’t the Clemson offense that was clicking that night in Columbia, South Carolina. The Tigers dominated the Gamecocks on defense too. On the first play of the game, USC’s Dondrial Pinkins dropped back to pass from his 20-yard line and Leroy Hill and Khaleed Vaughn sacked him for an 11-yard loss. That set the tone for the night, as Clemson picked off three passes and held the Gamecocks to 319 total yards.
“The opening series was big,” Leake said. “We were able to play downhill after that and pin our ears back. Our offense was hitting on all cylinders and that made it so much easier for us.”
While the offense was clicking, the defense kept getting stops. The Gamecocks netted just seven yards on their next two possessions, allowing Whitehurst and company to set the pace and force USC out of its running game early on.
“It was very important for us to set the tone early,” cornerback Justin Miller said. “It kind of helped the offense and let them get in a grove. We wanted them to have to pass the ball and once we got ahead 21-0, they had to put it into the air.”
In the end, the Tigers got a third touchdown run from Chad Jasmin and then a 33-yard run from Chansi Stuckey to close their 63-17 victory. Clemson later accepted an invitation to the Peach Bowl where it continued what was dubbed “The Finish” with a 27-14 victory over No. 6 Tennessee.
For Bowden, it was the end of wild ride in which he went from supposedly losing his job to orchestrating the most lopsided victory in the history of the rivalry. It was only fitting that he ended that ride by being carried off the field at Williams-Brice Stadium to the chants of “Tom-my Bow-den! Tom-my Bow-den!”
However, what was even more significant about Clemson’s “Finish” in 2003 was the fact it allowed Swinney to stay in Clemson, and we all know how that has turned out.
“Never in my life did I think I would still be at Clemson in 2023, twenty years later,” Swinney said on his call-in show earlier this week. “But here we are and it has been a blessing. It has been an amazing journey to be a part of a lot of great games.”
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