Bowden looks to keep rivalries in Clemson’s favor

By Stephen Jerdan  |   Thursday, July 06, 2006  |  Comments( 3 )

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Since 1896, Clemson University has been one of the most adored football schools in the Southeast. Throughout Clemson's century-old program the Tigers have accumulated five undefeated seasons and 18 recognized conference championships, as well as the 1981 National Championship. It's also important to recognize the establishment of Howard's Rock and "the most exciting 25 seconds of college football," as Brent Musburger eloquently described the moments when the Tigers perform their pre-game ritual of running down the hill.

However, despite the fact that Clemson does have a good number of marquee victories, the school's football tradition isn't necessarily measured by powerhouse wins. Like most conventional Southern football programs, the Clemson Tigers' beloved tradition rests primarily upon its success against their bitter rivals.

Much of the success credited to current Tigers head coach Tommy Bowden has been measured by clutch wins against both in and out of conference rivals. Since his induction year as the Tigers' head coach in 1999, Bowden has gone 7-7 against traditional in-conference rivals Georgia Tech and NC State after inheriting an underachieving 3-win team from former head coach Tommy West.

Bowden, however, has since added Florida State to that list of rivals and now plays in what is known as the "Bowden Bowl," due to Tommy's father, Bobby, being the head coach of the 'Noles. While Papa Bowden holds what appears to be a commanding 5-2 lead over his son, Tommy's two victories have come in the last three meetings between the two teams. The Tigers have been gaining more and more ground on the Seminoles for several seasons now, and may find themselves the favorite in this year's contest in Tallahassee.

At this point, Bowden's Tigers appear to be gaining the upper hand on their in-conference rivals. The Tigers have back-to-back wins against the Wolfpack, and, as mentioned before, have taken two of the last three from the Florida State Seminoles. While the Tigers' have suffered two consecutive losses to Georgia Tech, the losses came by a total of only five points. One of the losses also included a last-second play in 2004.

Tommy's recent success against ACC rivals hasn't been the highlight of Clemson's current program to Tiger fans, however. Bowden has more than proven himself to the Tiger-faithful with his victories in Clemson's most important game of the year against the Tigers' in-state archrival, the South Carolina Gamecocks. Since his debut as the Tigers' head coach, Bowden has lost to the Gamecocks only once. His lone loss in 2001 gives him a 6-1 record, including four consecutive wins, against two national championship-winning coaches in Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier. The success against the Gamecocks is, without question, the crown jewel of Bowden's tenure thus far.

Clemson's rivalries have fueled what makes up this small, rural school's way of life concerning football. Games against FSU have been known to shut down the entire Clemson area, and the Tigers' annual battle against the USC Gamecocks is often times celebrated more so than most holidays in the Palmetto State. Bowden has proven that, with time, he can continue to remain victorious over Clemson's bitter enemies, and Tiger Town can comfortably expect to see a lot more out of its head coach.

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