Five moments Clemson football fans willed the Tigers to victory
The 2020 Clemson football season is going to be much different than anything we’ve ever seen before.
For the first time in decades, the Tigers won’t have more than 80,000 Clemson football fans in the stands screaming as they enter Death Valley. Instead, Clemson announced that there will be a capacity limit of 19,000 to maintain social distancing guidelines.
While still being able to have Tiger fans in the stands is a ‘plus,’ you can’t deny that there won’t be as much of a home field advantage this time around compared to years past.
In tribute to those thousands of Clemson football fans who won’t be able to make it to Memorial Stadium this year, here’s a look back at five moments during the Dabo Swinney era in which the crowd played a big factor in the game and one could even argue they willed the Tigers on to victory.
5. Syracuse (2018)
This may not be the most star-studded match-up to kick off the list, but you can’t deny the role that the crowd played in this game.
For those that don’t remember, this was Trevor Lawrence‘s first start after he had beaten out Kelly Bryant for the job. Unfortunately, Lawrence went down with an injury in the first half and backup Chase Brice– who was the third-string coming into the season- was put into action.
It was a rocky performance in which Syracuse led for the majority of the afternoon, but momentum began to change near the end of the third quarter and throughout the fourth quarter. The crowd was loud for the defense as the unit completely shut down that Orange offensive attack and the home faithful gave Brice the confidence he needed to go in and make some clutch plays down the stretch, rallying the Tigers for a victory and saving their chance to compete for another National Championship.
4. Georgia (2013)
This will always be a memorable game that will be near & dear to the hearts of Clemson football fans, especially those who were in attendance.
The chill bumps when the Tigers appeared at the top of the hill on that Saturday night in front of a sold out crowd with more than 25,000 outside of the stadium and millions watching on their televisions around the nation can’t be forgotten.
And the game wasn’t that bad, either.
The competition between Clemson and Georgia went back-and-forth throughout the August night and the Tigers ultimately held on for the 38-35 victory.
3. ‘We Will Rock You’ (2009) & ‘We Will Rock You Part II (2011)
For this next one, we decided to combine two games in one.
First, there’s ‘We Will Rock You Part 1,’ that happened during the 2009 season. In Dabo Swinney’s first season as the Head Coach, the Tigers welcomed ACC rival Florida State in Death Valley and they put on an absolute clinic.
Clemson won the game 40-24 and the moment we’ll never forget is listening to 80,000+ fans singing ‘We will rock you’ all in unison. The crowd was next level that night and there’s no doubt they played a role in the beat down.
And then there’s ‘We Will Rock You Part II,’ which happened just two years later in 2011 when the series returned to Death Valley. This game was much closer and it still is one of the loudest afternoon games that I can remember ever being a part of.
Clemson football fans never sat down and helped will the defense to a game-clinching stop late in the game against the Seminoles, coming away with a 35-30 victory.
2. Louisville (2016)
Who can forget this instant classic?
It was the battle between two College Football legends in Deshaun Watson and Lamar Jackson. Both were Heisman contenders and both had ambitions of winning the game, winning the conference and competing in the CFB Playoff.
We all know it was Watson who ended up ultimately winning the game, but what we forget is the role the crowd played in that performance, particularly on the last drive.
Louisville was driving looking to take the lead late in the game and was facing a 4th-and-7 from the Clemson 9-yard line. The Tiger faithful, creating all kinds of noise, drew a false start and put Louisville back to the 16-yard line and they faced a 4th-and-12, instead. Jackson found James Quick open, but the receiver was forced out of bounds about two yards shy of the first down marker, sealing the victory for Clemson.
1. B.Y.O.G- vs. Notre Dame (2015)
And we’re capping off our list with one of the most memorable crowd performances in Clemson football history.
The Tigers were still looking to make a national name for themselves during the early portion of the 2015 season when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish came to town. There were questions if this game was even going to be played due to the absolute typhoon happening in the state of South Carolina that led to historic flooding, but that didn’t stop the Clemson football faithful for showing up and absolutely showing out.
Notre Dame hadn’t seen a crowd like that in a very long time and it showed as the game progressed.
Ultimately, Clemson- led by Ben Boulware– came away with a two-point conversion stop late in the contest that sealed the deal for the Tigers and put Clemson on national notice.
There have been some great Clemson football fan moments over the history of the program and while this year will certainly be different, we can always look back at the rich history and remember great times knowing, just like Dabo Swinney says, the best is yet to come.