What Saturday's win over Clemson means to South Carolina in the words of Shane Beamer and in-state players
Sitting in his press conference after one of the biggest wins of his career, Shane Beamer still wishes South Carolina were playing in Atlanta for the SEC Championship next week. But he knows that’s not the case this season.
In that moment, Beamer turned his attention back to the present and the 17-14 win his team just picked up over Clemson. On the bright side, he’ll have more time to celebrate this win beyond the usual 24-hour rule.
“We’re going to really look back and enjoy the hell out of this one for a while,” Beamer said. “I assure you that it’s just a great way to finish.”
The Gamecocks might not be playing for a conference title next week, but you can argue they should be as one of the hottest teams in the country right now. They’ll end the regular season on a six-game winning streak and head into postseason play, whether it be a playoff or bowl game, with a comeback victory over their arch rival in Death Valley.
“We knew it was going to be a war, two great teams going at it,” Beamer said. “We just needed to get this thing to the fourth quarter and find a way to win it.”
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After trailing for most of the day, South Carolina took the lead going into the final minute of the game on a 20-yard touchdown run by LaNorris Sellers. Then, with Clemson needing a field goal or touchdown to tie or win the game, Demetrius Knight Jr. sealed the deal with an interception with 12 seconds left.
Just like two years ago, this was another gutsy performance from the Gamecocks. On a day where there were many mistakes made, the fourth quarter showing proved to be the difference.
“I’m so happy for our fans, because this really is — and I told y’all on Tuesday — and I mean it like, this is the best rivalry I truly believe in college athletics,” Beamer said. “… I mean, it was freaking awesome. And what college athletics is all about, and it says that there’s two great programs in this state, two great teams in this state. Hate that anybody had to lose that game. But it says that we’ve got a really, really special group of guys that just continue to get better and have more work in front of us to do that.”
South Carolina will now finish the regular season 9-3 overall with a chance to make the College Football Playoff. But whether it does or not, Saturday’s win will be one remembered for quite some time.
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“It’s great for the city. It’s great for South Carolina. I mean, what more do you want?” Nick Emmanwori said.
In the moments after the win and the field cleared, Emmanwori and fellow secondary mate DQ Smith — both from the Columbia area — ran the length of the field and up Clemson’s hill to take photos with Howard’s Rock. After their brief photo shoot, which included a Tigers fan off in the distance yelling at them to not touch the rock, they ran down the hill, just like Clemson does before every home game.
For Emmanwori specifically, these are the moments he lives for. This is why he came to South Carolina. He said it from the moment he officially signed with the Gamecocks, “Clemson’s on the clock.” A few years later, he’s now helped South Carolina beat the Tigers twice in their home stadium.
“Other than Williams-Brice, my favorite place to play is Death Valley,” Emmanwori said. “The energy is amazing. So it’s huge for the city, huge for Columbia. I’m 2-1 (against Clemson). It’s just amazing.”
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In what could’ve been Emmanwori’s last rivalry game, he believes this is just the beginning of what South Carolina will do in the future. He expects this to be a moment where the momentum of who runs the state shifts to the Gamecocks.
“It’s a new era in South Carolina right now,” he said. “In the past, they kind of had an edge on us. But now, I think Shane Beamer’s done a great job on flipping the tide, getting the right recruits to come to Carolina, and just showing up in these games right here.”
