In 2017, the Boy's had a hankerin' for some good time Southern Hospitality, Foot Ball and Hot Dog's, and here ain't no place better than Clemson, South Carolina! Plus, just outside of Clemson is the little town of Anderson and the home of the last stop in the Hot Dog Program, Skin's Thrashers!! The LAST stop for the Boy's Hot Dog Program Tour. It all made too much since, so on Friday September 22nd the Boys flew down to the ATL, and drove the three hours in the Southern heat up to Clemson. Mike and Bone spent a great day doing the area and hot dogs when they headed down into the front gates of the Stadium, ready to be welcomed by Howard's Rock!!!
Girded for Gridiron Glory!!
One of the great things about College Football is the little traditions each school has, Clemson has a few cool ones, one of which is before every game, the players walk into the East Stadium entrance, touch Howards Rock, and walk down the hill onto the field. "Howard's Rock" was brought to football coach Frank Howard in the early 1960s as a gift from Samuel C. Jones. Jones found the rock while driving through Death Valley, California and gave it to Howard as a reference to "Death Valley," the name Howard used to refer to Memorial Stadium. The coach used the rock as a doorstop until 1966. He was cleaning out his office when he told Gene Willimon, a Clemson booster, "Take this rock and throw it over the fence or out in the ditch...Do something with it, but get it out of my office."
It was Willimon who had the rock placed on a pedestal in the east end zone, where it remains today.The rock made its first appearance on September 24, 1966: Clemson was losing to Virginia by 18 points with seventeen minutes left in the game. The Tigers made up the deficit and won the game 40-35.
The next season was when the tradition of rubbing the rock upon entering the stadium began. Howard reportedly said to his players, "If you're going to give me 110 percent, you can rub that rock. If you're not, keep your filthy hands off of it."
The Tigers have continued this tradition since 1967, except for two-and-a-half seasons between 1970 and 1972. This was due to new head coach Hootie Ingram's changing the team's entrance to the west end zone after Frank Howard's retirement. During those seasons, Clemson held a bad record at home of 6-9. Before the South Carolina rivalry game in 1972, the team voted to enter via the east end zone and run down the hill. They later won the game 7-6. These days fans are allowed to get their pictures taken pre-game ,,,, even Wolverines!!!!
Pre-Game Practice in the Steamy Saturday Afternoon
The old saying that if you "can't stand the heat, stay out of the Kitchen" was appropriate that afternoon, it was ridiculously hot, somewhere in the mid-90's Mike and Bone found their (not-so-good seats) in the lower west end zone, which was well positioned to watch the players walk down the field, but not so much watching the Game. So Mike and Bone tried to drink the amount of water they were sweatin' (about a gallon an hour!), when the Band took the field!
The Clemson University Tiger Band!
Before the 1950s, Clemson University was strictly a military college. Even though it did not accept civilian students, there was always a band of some sort, most often a Cadet Corps band. In the mid-1930s (around 1935), Dr. Edward Jones Freeman (for whom Freeman Hall, an educational building on Clemson's campus, is named) wrote a fight song for the school called "Tiger Rah," a song which would eventually be reintroduced to the university in the 2002 football season. In 1937, the band, then known as "The Clemson College Band Company," broke into four different bands: the Parade Band, the Concert Band, the Junior Band, and the College Dance Orchestra. In 1938, the Clemson Concert Band performed on a nationally broadcast radio program on NBC.
Clemson's band director in 1942, Dean Ross, stumbled upon "Tiger Rag", originally recorded and copyrighted by the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1917, in an Atlanta music store. Also known as "the song that shakes the southland", the Tiger Rag was brought back to Clemson to be taught to the Tiger Band to play at football games. Since 1942, the Tiger Band has learned more than 15 ways to play the Tiger Rag and performs at all Tiger sporting events, pep rallies, and parades.
In 1955, Clemson College was opened up to the civilian population as a public college, and in that year, the band was renamed to its current name, the "Tiger Band."
During the 1960s, the Clemson Tiger Band began to expand their horizons. In 1961, the Tiger Band received a permanent building that included a library and rooms for practice, offices, and storage. That year baton twirlers were also added to the Tiger Band ensemble.
In 1962, the Clemson Tiger Band was invited to travel to Washington, D.C. in order to perform for the then-President of the United States of America, John F. Kennedy. In 1964, the Tiger Band was again invited to perform on a national scale, this time during the halftime show of the football game between the Baltimore Colts and the Minnesota Vikings, which was shown live on CBS.
In 1970, the Clemson Tiger Band reached a monumental milestone by inducting fourteen women into the band as the college's first female musicians. In1980, the band formation that spells out "CLEMSON" at the end of halftime shows was added to the log of formations that the band was capable of performing. In 1991, Clemson began the construction of the $12 million Brooks Center for the Performing Arts, which, upon its completion in 1994, became the permanent home of the Clemson University Tiger Band. Also in 1991, the Clemson Tiger Band travelled to Tokyo in order to perform in the Japan Bowl, sponsored by Coca-Cola. Since Mike and Bone are Guinness fans, they prefer the mighty Meeechigan Marching Band! The Tiger Walk down the Hill (More like a hop!)
Next, The team took their famous walk down the hill, Based on the gear they wear and steep slope, Mike and Bone could easily see players taking dives! Talking to some locals, yep, in fact every season several players do the slide rather than walk down the field! With pre-game festivities over it was GAME On!!!
A Slow Start!!
Clemson took a 7-0 lead midway through the second quarter on an 11-yard touchdown run by Kelly Bryant, but that was the only score in the first half. Boston College's Defense still reflects Don Brown's hard-nose style! Mike and Bone hated the seats they had so at Half they headed up into second deck to watch the Half-Time show and the rest of the game.
A hard fought Half!!
A Slog in the 3rd
Mike and Bone watched Kelly Bryant and the Clemson offense struggled much of the day, but the Tigers’ running game, led by Travis Etienne, got going late in the 3rd Quarter, but the Eagles also answered on an AJ Dillon 1-yard run before Clemson finally took control.
Finally, a little Run Game!
The game was tied entering the fourth quarter, before Clemson outscored the Eagles 27-0. It started with Adam Choice giving Clemson the lead with a 6-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter before Etienne rumbled 50 yards for a score and a 21-7 advantage. Bryant’s second touchdown run of the game put the Tigers ahead 27-7 after Alex Spence missed the extra point before Etienne finished the scoring with a 10-yard run.
Final Score: Clemson 34, Boston College 7 !?!
Etienne finished with nine carries for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Clemson (4-0, 2-0 ACC) rushed for 164 yards in the final quarter, compared to the Boston College (1-3, 0-2) offense which managed 37 yards. “Those guys played their tails off and really gave us all we wanted for the majority of the game.
A hard-fought game. I knew it would be,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said. “We ended up wearing them down. It’s a four-quarter game. It’s not a two-quarter game. It’s not a three-quarter game. The game is four quarters for a reason, and we just took it over.” “What a game. What a fourth quarter,” Swinney said of Etienne. “That’s what you can do when you’ve got depth and you can wear people down. He’s just gaining confidence by the minute.” Clemson's Quarterback Kelley Bryant finished 17 of 26 passing for 140 yards and two interceptions. The Tigers finished with 342 rushing yards. “At the end of the day, to run the ball for 342 yards, you’re going to win a lot of football games that way,” Swinney said. With that Mike and Bone decided to fuel up with a few beers Charlie's Style to celebrate the win.