And those games, in September in South Carolina, are essentially like playing football inside a pottery kiln, especially on Clemson's home field, which sits in a natural gorge, built atop bedrock and surrounded by reflective white concrete.Īccording to the official Clemson history books, McMillan had visited the Mojave Desert a decade earlier en route the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
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At the time, tradition held that PC and Clemson always played the season opener. In 1945, Lonnie McMillan, head coach of the rival Presbyterian College Blue Hose, had just endured a 76-0 rout at the hands of the orange-and-white Tigers. The first known "Death Valley" reference tossed Memorial Stadium's way came more than 10 years before Peele's nickname. Why? Because they believed they had earned that right after defeating the team that was already using the name for its home stadium. 1, 1959, when LSU and Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon capped the school's first national title with a 7-0 victory in the Sugar Bowl, some of those fans stole "Death" when describing the home valley. The crowds at LSU home games would shake the walls and rattle the glass of Peele's service station, so he nicknamed the stadium "Deaf Valley." Soon fellow LSU fans adopted the moniker.įor some, "Death" actually predated "Deaf" in Baton Rouge.
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He went on to post a 37-2 professional record, became the sparring partner for heavyweight legend Archie Moore and, in the 1960s, opened a gas station in Baton Rouge literally within shouting distance of Tiger Stadium. Thurman "Crowe" Peele was born and made his name as an amateur boxer in the Carolinas, but he attended LSU, where he won the 1955 NCAA heavyweight title. You have to go back about 75 years for the story to start emerging. Which brings us back to this storied moniker for these two powerhouse programs: How, and why, did each one land on the name "Death Valley"? "But the real Death Valley sits right over here by my house."įord lives in Clemson, so close to his former place of employment he can hear the roar of the 81,500 in attendance during the home games he chooses to sit out. "But - " Ford pauses to reinforce his next point made. The whole thing," says Danny Ford, who has walked through both valleys of the shadow of death, first as an Alabama player and assistant coach and then as Clemson's head coach for more than a decade. "Both are amazing places to play college football. Meanwhile, in Clemson, South Carolina, the building officially titled Memorial Stadium features more subtle signage, a plainly fonted "Clemson Welcomes You To Death Valley." But then, the team stands atop The Hill and cascades down onto the playing field, rubbing a rock atop a pedestal that was brought from the barren floor of the Mojave Desert and Death Valley National Park, some 2,300 miles away: And it is Saturday night in Death Valley!" In the place officially known as Tiger Stadium, fans in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, are greeted with a neon-bright gold "WELCOME TO DEATH VALLEY" sign and the atmosphere sends chills up spines as poetry - poetry! - is read over the public-address system. The geographic settings are very different, but each is similarly intimidating for visiting teams. But none of those parallels tweaks the nerves of those two familial fan bases like the competing passions for their shared stadium nickname. Yes, they both play the "Tiger Rag." And, yes, they both win lots of football games. Yes, LSU and Clemson are both the Tigers. "Hey, which one of y'all plays in the real Death Valley?"
Who's better, Joe Burrow or Trevor Lawrence? Clyde Edwards-Helaire or Travis Etienne? Purple as an accent to gold or purple as a partner for orange? Dabo Swinney's sideline sermons or Ed Orgeron's gumbo jokes?īut if you're in a Bourbon Street watering hole on the eve of the big game and looking to get a throwdown started between a Tigers fan and a, um, Tigers fan, there's only one question that will serve as the proper stick of flint to get the evening ignited: 13, there will be many debates around the fourth-ever meeting between LSU and Clemson. SEC Now crew identifies most notable 2024 SEC gamesĪs we inch closer to the national title game on Jan.Which 2024 SEC game will prove to be most exciting?.How will non-conference matchups affect 2024 season?.
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