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Early From page 17 "South Carolina, still limping from the hard Knocks of Civil War Reconstruction, had reluctantly accepted the spread of a Yankeeconceived sport that represented a spin-off from the English games of soccer and rugby," Don Barton writes in The CarolinaClemson Game, 1896 1966. Tho not*\\r imr\/vf T TCP Aftiv/ vai ij jcaio wi UOV/ football indeed lacked the size, popularity and characteristics now associated with the game, but the void was filled with a rich supply of color, controversy and raw innocence furnished by the budding sport... "When Furman and Trinity staged a contest in Columbia in October 1891," r\_ 1 nr ti?ii: vi. vaiuvi w. nuuis wruie 111 tracing the origin of South Carolina football, "students at the South Carolina College were so intrigued, they set about forming a team of their own." The makeshift team squared off against Furman in a Charleston baseball park on Christmas Eve 1892 with no roarh no faculty permission and little practice. The result was a 440 loss to the Paladins. In 1894, the university faculty granted permission to assemble an official school team, which then absorbed losses to Georgia (40-0) and an Aueusta YMCA (16-4) in the short season. "The game of football was not an instantly popular form of competition in its formulative years," cites Y: f f * it - r iiiui nuuier, auinur 01 i ne Gamecocks. "In fact,more than one member of a supersophisticated, stuffy,! starched-shirt society scorned the sport for its barbaric brutalness. L However, the game of football was to become an expression of pride between rival colleges and in suiuuons, ana wnne bouin Carolina's early teams lost more games than they won, the school was destined to become a part of one of the sport's all-time rivalries." Tho riwtlxo Jr. nf ? aii^ tivaiijr 10, ui turn ac, Carolina versus Clemson. It began in 1896, and was from the outset intense, competitive and more than just a football game. Politics drew the initial divider lines between the two-statesupported schools. It was not team against team, rather aristocratic Carolina society against Clemson rednecks, as the two sides called each nthpr As Fir Mollis nnintc out, "The new sport arrived in South Carolina almost simultaneously with the stormy upheaval in state politics known as the Tillman movement." Tillman, an Edgefield farmer led a grass-roots political crusade that eventually resulted in his election as governor. At Yean tacking USC for its lack of interest in agriculture and calling the school "the seed bed of the aristocracy," Tillman was instrumental in the founding of Clemson, and thus the ideological con trasts between the schools. On the morning of November 13, 1896, Carolina and Clemson met at the old fairgrounds on Elmwood Avenue for the initial encounter. Clemson was called Tigers but Carolina was known by many names including ".laouars " for it Todd ar Huge Athletic Sh( Over: Pairs it Lowest Pri< Dutch 6 Sauare Hi Wt MAVt I lit I GAMFCOCK MER< Items include: JEWELRY#G HATS#Cl SHIRTS ANC AND THE JEWELRY I "II's more than just a j-j 2909 Piatt Springs 9-6 Monday VI? AL C OI A no limit w ^Bspiy ONE BLOCK ! was not until 1902 that "Gamecocks" became the official mascot. A crowd of around 2,000 were on hand to watch Carolina record a 12-fi victory over the Tigers. But as Hunter observes, "Carolina fans cheered that initial victory, but it was not until 1902 that Gamecock partisans were able to do it again. Clemson took four consecutive victories, including a lopsided 51-0 win in 1900 that remains on the records today as South Carolina's most humiliating id Moore De Sale in Progress! 25,000 1 Stock! :es in Town! 120 Columbia iger Mall BEST VARIETY OF CHANDISE ARMENT BAGS 11 )PS#PANTIES j > MORE, MORE [I MORE! [| WAREHOUSE 1 nother jewelry store. " li Rd. West Columbia (j thru Saturday [ j ROX PIES y each it h student ID 10^0 Marinn t k Claire Towers 1 Columbia, S.C. 1 803-254-8931 OFFCAMPUS moment against the Tigers." In all, there were few shining moments following the 1896 win, and Carolina entered the 1902 season with a 12-20 all-time record and a nntir />r\nnK Un uric tloK new tuatn. tie wao xjw Williams, USC's fifth football coach. Athletic enthusiasm was scarce, as evident in the 1898 Garnet * Black: "We sometime feel discouraged at the prospect for successful athletics at the College, yet must we plod forward, awaiting the time when the tide of our fortunes i flSTX / t LiaCh \ ESP I m J unusi M Array f Curt % Woodhiii Mall syl' Columbia, SC. 8CP M m I ^ i iB I 613/6171 comes to the flood. Patience, dear cynic, patience!" Patience paid off. Williams, who came to n i: r Carolina irum vicuna, commanded his teams of 1902 and 1903 to 14 wins against three losses. One of Williams' most important games was the 1902 Carolina-Clemson meeting. USC fans were hungry for a victory over the rival Tigers, who had won the last four contests and were beginning to become a national power under new coach Heisman. /3 - yygggni ecialy For Gamecocks F 10 Enjoy Good Times & T nal, You Can Choose Fro Of Unique Gag Gifts, Sh rains and Bath Accessoi t Prices You Can Afforc via Fulton jfi > / /?S-4136 L^Pi Mmsm K\ 1 I JlfaiJI I -' Kliififl harden St. F ) Both teams entered the 1902 match with three wins under their belts and no losses, yet Clemson was a heavy favorite. Carolina, however, read each of Heisman's trick plays correctly and posted a 12-6 upset. The win led to another ? almost tragic ? rj Carolina-Clemson duel. Mlirh to ripmsnn cnn. porters' dislike, Carolina students celebrated the victory by parading around a transparency of a Gamecock crowing over a See Early, page 19 / ans f he I E im An \ lower X *ies. \ ? J "V l^j -off\\ FMJL Jtss . 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