CLEMSON —The unsung hero.
In every rivalry game, there is always one player who makes the play that saves the day for their team that no one saw coming.
Clemson has had its share of unsung heroes in the Clemson-South Carolina game.
In 1948, Phil Prince broke through to block a South Carolina punt with 4:30 to play. The ball rolled to the USC 11-yard line, where Oscar Thompson scooped it up and ran it in for the game’s winning touchdown in a 13-7 Clemson victory.
Jerry Butler made a diving reception of a 20-yard pass from Steve Fuller with 49 seconds remaining in the 1977 game, giving the Tigers a 31-27 victory in Columbia. The play, which is known as “The Catch,” is regarded as the most famous in Clemson history.
Willie Underwood played 47 games for the Tigers, but he never had an interception until his final game against the Gamecocks in 1980. He had two interceptions for a combined 101 return yards that day in Death Valley. His 37- yard interception return for a touchdown iced Clemson’s 27-6 win. It is still the most interception return yards in a single game by a Tiger.
The key play in Clemson’s 29-13 win in Columbia in 1981, was a blocked punt by Rod McSwain. The ball was recovered in the end zone by Johnny Rembert. The play began at the 28, just as Prince’s block in the 1948 game had. The win clinched a berth in the Orange Bowl, where the Tigers claimed their first national championship.
In 1995, fullback Emory Smith rushed for 101 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries, leading Clemson to a 38-17 win and a berth in the Gator Bowl. He will be remembered for one particular run in the fourth quarter when he dragged a South Carolina defender for nearly 10 yards at the end of a 54-yard run.
Defensive back Antwan Edwards had two interceptions in the third quarter alone, including one for a 42-yard touchdown, leading Clemson to a 47-21 win and a berth in the Peach Bowl in 1997. His thefts led to a 27-point third quarter, Clemson’s highest-scoring quarter in history against the Gamecocks.
Linebacker Howard Bartley will always be remembered for a 48-yard interception return for a touchdown in his final game as a Tiger in 1998. It was a key second-half play in Clemson’s 28-19 win.
Rod Gardner will forever be remembered by Clemson fans thanks to his 50-yard grab from Woodrow Dantzler while falling backwards that set up Aaron Hunt’s game-winning field goal with three seconds remaining in the 2000 game. Clemson won 16-14 and Gardner’s catch is often referred to as “The Catch 2.”
La’Donte Harris provided that big play in the 2007 game, a 23-21 Clemson win, when he picked up a punt that was blocked by fellow wideout Nelson Faerber and raced 10 yards for a touchdown. That was Clemson’s first blocked punt for a score against the Gamecocks since 1981. Kicker Mark Buchholz made a 35-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Tigers to a 23-21 victory over South Carolina.
Playing with a torn ACL, quarterback Deshaun Watson completed 14 of 19 passes for 269 yards and accounted for four touchdowns overall, two through the air and two with his feet, in the 2014 game. Watson was not expected to play that afternoon in Death Valley, but he did, while snapping the Tigers’ five-game losing streak to the Gamecocks with a 35-17 victory.
Current Clemson kicker Jonathan Weitz will be added to this list.
Three months ago, Weitz was getting ready for a career on Wall Street when Dabo Swinney called him at his Charleston, S.C., home and asked him if he wanted to give it one more shot. Weitz, who had one year of eligibility remaining, graduated from Clemson last Spring, and was taking on-line graduate classes when he got the call.
Fast forward to last Saturday night, and Weitz was living out a childhood dream.
“The amount of times I have been out on the field with my dad in Charleston, thinking, ‘This is the kick that is going to beat the Gamecocks.’ I can’t even count how many times I have done that,” Weitz said.
He can officially say he has done it now.
A guy who was not even a part of the team when the season began, made kicks of 50, 49 and 42 yards in the Tigers’ 16-7 victory. All three kicks are career highs.
“If you would have told me that before I got the call from Coach Swinney, when I was hanging out in Charleston with my friends, I would have laughed,” Weitz said. “I would probably be in the water surfing still.”
Instead, he is one of Clemson’s Unsung Heros in the South Carolina Rivalry.
Don’t miss Dear Old Clemson’s Black Friday sale that is underway. 50 to 75 percent off some great Clemson collectibles! Get your deals while supplies last!
