COLLEGE FOOTBALL ZACH LENTZ

“You can throw the records out. The records don’t matter. This is Clemson-South Carolina.” Those words were spoken by Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney, but are they true?

We always hear the phrase ‘You can throw out the record books when these 2 teams get together’. However, while there have been some upsets in the series, usually the team with the better record comes away with the victory.

The team entering the game with the better overall record has a 24-9-1 record in this series since 1981. That computes to greater than 70% over a 36-year period. Only 4 times during that era had both teams owned the same record.

In 9 of the last 14 years, the team with the better overall record entering the game has lost. For the history of the series, Clemson has a 45-18-3 record when it enters the contest with the better record - a 70% winning percentage.

Clemson has had the better record in 66 of the 116 previous meetings. The teams have had the same winning percentage entering the game 11 times and Clemson has a 8-3 record in those games.

The Tigers enter the 2019 matchup with the Gamecocks with not just a slightly better record. The 2 teams are not even in the same universe. The Tigers enter the game with a perfect 11-0 record, looking forward to a 5th straight appearance in the ACC Championship and a 5th straight berth in the College Football Playoff.

Meanwhile, the Gamecocks enter the game with a 4-7 record and are guaranteed to spend bowl season at home on the couch.

But even with the Tigers holding a decided advantage over the Gamecocks, with ESPN’s FPI giving them a 92.6% chance of winning the game by an average score of 41-19, Swinney still believes that the Gamecocks will come ready to play.

“You are going to have both teams excited to play and both teams have an open date and 2 weeks to prepare, so none of that stuff matters,” Swinney said. “All that matters is what you do those 4 quarters and nothing carries over, good or bad. You gotta earn it on the field that day during those 4 quarters, not anything this year or last year.”

Swinney has a full understanding of how important this rivalry is to the people of South Carolina. Even after making the move from Alabama to South Carolina, it

did not take him long to understand how

headed the rivalry was.

“I realized it my 1st spring here,” said

Swinney, who is 6-5 against the Gamecocks. “I was recruiting that spring and I

realized it was no different than living in

Alabama,” he said. “When I was living in

Alabama and coaching at Alabama, half

of the people are happy to see you when

you’re out recruiting and half of them

aren’t. It was an easy transition for me because I was used to an in-state rivalry.

Right out of the gate, I realized right away how big a deal it is to people in this state. It’s fun to be a part of a great rivalry.”

“Again, I’m just thankful to be able to be a part of a game like this in college football. I just think it is really cool.

You look around the country and it is a special week. Alabama-Auburn, Florida State-Florida, Michigan-Ohio State, Mississippi State-Mississippi, Virginia Tech-Virginia, Georgia Tech-Georgia, those are all really fun games that I think really make kind of the essences of college football.”

Clemson is seeking to win 6 straight games over the Gamecocks for the 2nd time in the history of the rivalry. The Tigers won 7 in a row from 1934-40.

Saturday’s game will air at noon on ESPN. The Clemson broadcast can be heard on WCOS (1400 AM) or on the TuneIn Radio phone app.