This game is the third longest uninterrupted series in college football, having played every year since 1909. Clemson holds an overall lead of 63-36-4 in this series.
History
editPast
editThomas Green Clemson's will called for a "high seminary of learning" to be founded upon the estate of Fort Hill. The will called for the State of South Carolina to fund the institution, but provided it a limited role in the institution's governance. Clemson called for a 13-member Board of Trustees to govern the course of Clemson Agricultural College, with seven "lifetime" trustees and six trustees selected by the South Carolina state assembly to serve two-year terms. A president would also be appointed by the trustees to oversee the day-to-day operations of the college. Henry Aubrey Strode was selected by the Clemson Trustees to lead the new institution.
Clemson Agricultural College opened its doors in 1893 to 446 new cadets. At that time, the campus had only constructed two poorly-masoned brick buildings but by 1914 had increased in size and reputation, academically and athletically. The legendary coach John Heisman coached Clemson football from 1900 to 1903, before moving to greater fame at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In addition, Clemson's academic calendar became a model for many universities and colleges in the United States at that time, and the "Clemson calendar" became adopted as the traditional two-semester academic calendar for the majority of institutions in the U.S. through today.
The World Wars saw a flurry of cadets leave Clemson for active duty and the campus itself became a base for military training. World War I saw nearly every cadet in the classes of 1917 and 1918 enlist, and at one point the college had only 42 active student-cadets. World War II saw even greater involvement. Airborne troops training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, would march the thirty miles to Clemson to practice on the campus rifle range. Clemson ranked third in the country in institutions providing Army officers. Only the United States Military Academy and Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University (since 1963 Texas A&M University) provided more.
As a result of the G.I. Bill providing increased opportunities for Americans to go into higher education, Clemson experienced a significant period of expansion under the leadership of two long-serving presidents, Robert M. Cooper and Robert C. Edwards. In 1953, a consulting firm was enlisted to help Clemson college plan a path for its future. In its findings, the group recommended that Clemson drop its military status and become a civilian institution and that it should enroll women. Following this advice, the first women were enrolled in Clemson in 1954, also the first year the school entered civilian status. Compulsory R.O.T.C. training remained until 1969.
The campus also experienced a frenzy of construction during the 1950s, as new academic buildings and contemporary student housing was constructed. The Johnstone Hall complex became a model for college dormitories, implementing a new raise-slab construction method, a practice which was featured in many architectural magazines at that time. This method - the Youtz-Slick "lift-slab" method - lifted reinforced concrete slabs onto columns with hydraulic jacks. These slabs weighed 224 tons and were nine inches thick, 122 feet long, and 43 feet wide. Over time, Johnstone became a "landmark" for students and alumni, although perhaps not always in a good way. The building's appearance became noticeably bad leaving many to feel that it was more of an eyesore on the campus. Much of the building was torn down by 2004. Today, only one of the original Johnstone buildings is still standing on the campus. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, additional buildings, including the R.M. Cooper Library, the Bryan Mall and "Shoebox" residence areas, and the innovative Lee Hall were also constructed.
In sharp contrast to the strenuous and violent situations at other southern universities in the early 1960s, Clemson became peacefully integrated on January 22, 1963, when Harvey Gantt became the first African-American student at Clemson. Lucinda Harris, who entered a semester later, would become the first African-American female student, and later married Gantt.
Clemson's expanding student body and expanded academic offerings prompted college administrators to submit to the South Carolina legislature to change its name to Clemson University in 1964. The University continued to expand into the 1970s when enrollment topped 10,000 for the first time.
Clemson achieved great recognition during its 1981 football season, when the Tigers were undefeated, winning the Orange Bowl 22-15 over the Nebraska Cornhuskers to become national champions. During the 1981 season, the Tigers beat top 10 teams Georgia, North Carolina, and Nebraska. They also defeated conference rival Wake Forest 82-24, setting numerous stadium, school, and conference records. Memorial Stadium (or "Death Valley") nearly doubled its capacity during these years of popularity, with many games selling out to this day. Sportscaster Brent Musburger once described the Tiger's entrance, or "running the hill," as "the most exciting 25 seconds in college football."
Present
editIn the 1990s, Clemson underwent additional transformations, which included an internal restructuring of the university from nine colleges into five, in an effort to streamline operations and cut costs. In 1995, the Carolina Panthers played their inaugural season in Clemson, and in 1997, Clemson was ranked as one of the "Top 50 Public Universities" in the United States by U.S. News & World Report magazine.
Continued distinctions continue into the 2000s. Clemson was named as "Public School of the Year" in 2001 by Time Magazine for its "Communication across the Curriculum" program.