Which 2022 Win Was Bigger For South Carolina: Tennessee Or Clemson?
Over the last two weeks in the 2022 regular season, no college football team in America had two bigger wins than South Carolina's wins over Top 10 teams in Tennessee and Clemson. Seemingly on the brink of a crossroads after a disastrous blowout loss against the Florida Gators, the Gamecocks wiped out a quarter of the College Football Playoff contenders, shocking every single fan and pundit alike.
When looking back at this magical run, both victories are obviously held in higher regard, especially the one over Tennessee, considering how South Carolina annihilated the Volunteers' defense on that cool Autumn night in Williams-Brice Stadium. However, I would argue that the Gamecocks' victory over the Clemson Tigers was more important in terms of the long-term impact it already has had on the program and will continue to have moving forward.
For starters, South Carolina, for the most part, hadn't been competitive with Clemson since 2013, the final chapter of what was a magical 5-year winning streak the Gamecocks held over their in-state rivals. In the seven straight losses leading into 2022, South Carolina had been outscored by Clemson 286-104. This stretch had coincided with the Tigers' rise to national prominence, which included four national title game appearances.
For the Gamecocks to end that streak, it's a strong indicator that the tide is starting to change in the rivalry once more. That's also been the case on the recruiting trail, as the Gamecocks landed four of the top five high school football prospects in the state for the 2023 recruiting cycle and so far in the 2024 cycle have five of the Palmetto state's top seven prospects in the fold.
Some of these recruits were players that Clemson had high interest in, most notably Markee Anderson, Kam Pringle, and Blake Franks, but the Gamecocks bested the Tigers in each of those recruitments. Combine this with Shane Beamer's rising national reception, all while the Tigers' Dabo Swinney has faced countless questions regarding his willingness to adapt to this new era of college athletics, and the Gamecocks are quickly closing the gap on Clemson.
This isn't meant to take away from the win against Tennessee, which was probably the most entertaining win for South Carolina. Still, the Gamecock faithful will always celebrate a victory over their archrivals more than one over the Volunteers.
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