The Tiger Pregame Show

1 Day Until Kickoff!  Remembering The Journey With College Football Playoffs!  National Championship In Tampa, Florida Part III




The Tigers took their first lead, 28-24, with 4:38 left in the fourth quarter when Wayne Gallman surged in from a yard out.  




Tiger Pregame Show Promotional Video Vs. Alabama In Tampa, Florida https://youtu.be/jDqbY7iNclA

The Tide's offense, which had gone dormant for most of the second half, came to life with the help of a sweet call from newly promoted offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. Receiver ArDarius Stewart took a backward pass from Jalen Hurts and fired a strike to O.J. Howard for 24 yards. 

On the next play, Hurts broke free from a collapsing pocket and weaved through defenders for a 30-yard touchdown run to make it 31-28 with 2:07 left. 




"I was calm," Watson said. He said he thought about Vince Young's last-second touchdown for Texas that derailed the Southern California's championship run in the 2005 championship game at the Ros…

Old Memorial Bridge, Then and Now 

(Photos Uploaded By Alan Cutts) 
Today’s photos are of the old "Memorial Bridge" that was a familiar landmark for years around the Clemson area until lake Hartwell was built. You can see Tillman Hall in the below right of the picture. 

The lake was created in 1963 when the Hartwell Dam was built on the Savannah River Basin seven miles below the point at which the Tugaloo and Seneca Rivers join to form the Savannah. 

The Memorial Bridge, before the flooding of the lake, was the method of transportation over the river. Here you can see the inscription on the bridge. 


This picture and graphic shows the location of the bridge along the old road (Highway 123). 


Back in 2008 when the lake hit record levels of drought, the Memorial Bridge once again saw the light of day. Here is a picture of the remains of the bridge during that drought. 


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2 Days Until Kickoff!  Remembering The Journey With College Football Playoffs!  National Championship In Tampa, Florida Part II



The new champions have a process of their own that includes a loquacious coach who can turn a postgame interview into a fiery sermon, a spectacular quarterback who did not need a Heisman Trophy to show he was the best player in the country and a fun-loving team that plays with a chip on its shoulder.

Tiger Pregame Show Promotional Video Vs. Alabama In Tampa, Florida https://youtu.be/jDqbY7iNclA
The lead changed hands three times in the fourth quarter, but Watson got the ball last. Playing in his final college game, the junior quarterback threw for 420 yards and three touchdowns. In two games against Alabama and the most ferocious defense in college football, Watson has thrown for 825 yards and accounted for eight touchdowns. 



Watson was sacked four times and took some cringe-inducing shots from All-Americans Jonathan Allen and Reuben Foster, but stood tall and del…

Downtown Clemson In 1950’s

(Photos Uploaded By Alan Cutts)
Today’s photo is of downtown Clemson in the late 1950’s facing towards campus and Tillman Hall.

We can date the photo to sometime around 1959 because of the movie that is playing in the Clemson Movie House in the photo.

The Hanging Tree is a 1959 movie directed by Delmer Daves. Karl Malden took over directing duties for several days when Daves fell ill. The film stars Gary Cooper, Maria Schell, George C. Scott and Malden and is set in the gold fields of Montana during the gold rush of the 1860s and 1870s.

You can also notice a long gone gas station in the right side of the photo, Sinclair Oil Corporation.

Sinclair Oil Corporation is an American petroleum corporation, founded by Harry F. Sinclair on May 1, 1916, as the Sinclair Oil and Refining Corporation by combining the assets of 11 small petroleum companies. Originally a New York corporation, Sinclair Oil reincorporated in Wyoming in 1976.

The corporation's logo featur…

The Tiger Pregame Show January 1st, 2018 1:30-4:30 Central Time 2:30-5:30 Eastern Time WCCP 105.5 FM In Upstate Of South Carolina wccpfm.com and Tune In App Streaming For Free


2018 Allstate Sugar Bowl - Clemson Co-Offensive Coordinator Jeff Scott Quotes - 12-29-17
Q. Can you talk about the excitement to be here in New Orleans and what it means to this program to be back after some fifty‑plus years?
COACH SCOTT: Yeah, it's very exciting. Coach Swinney kind of has this special skill or talent of maybe predicting the future. And at the very beginning of the year, he always starts off his talk with a bunch of numbers. And he kind of uses those numbers as goals for our season.  And one of those numbers was the number of years since Clemson had been to the Sugar Bowl. And that was one of our goals from the very beginning in August, and it's great to be here. 
I think our players and coaches understand the history of the Sugar Bowl. The last time I was here was actually as a coach's kid. M…

The Tiger Pregame Show January 1st, 2018 1:30-4:30 Central Time 2:30-5:30 Eastern Time WCCP 105.5 FM In Upstate Of South Carolina wccpfm.com and Tune In App Streaming For Free
2018 Allstate Sugar Bowl - Clemson Co-Offensive Coordinator Jeff Scott Quotes - 12-29-17
Q. Can you talk about the excitement to be here in New Orleans and what it means to this program to be back after some fifty‑plus years? COACH SCOTT: Yeah, it's very exciting. Coach Swinney kind of has this special skill or talent of maybe predicting the future. And at the very beginning of the year, he always starts off his talk with a bunch of numbers. And he kind of uses those numbers as goals for our season.  And one of those numbers was the number of years since Clemson had been to the Sugar Bowl. And that was one of our goals from the very beginning in August, and it's great to be here.  I think our players and coaches understand the history of the Sugar Bowl. The last time I was here was actually as a coach's kid. M…

3 Days Until Kickoff! Remembering The Journey With College Football Playoffs!  National Championship In Tampa, Florida 

Deshaun Watson took the snap, rolled right and with one of the easiest throws he had to make all night, completed Clemson's journey to the top of college football.

Tiger Pregame Show Promotional Video Vs. Alabama In Tampa, Florida https://youtu.be/jDqbY7iNclA
A frantic fourth quarter and a championship rematch between Clemson and Alabama was decided with 1 second left on a 2-yard touchdown toss to Hunter Renfrow. 



Watson and the Tigers dethroned the defending champs and became the first team to beat Nick Saban's Alabama dynasty in a national title game, taking down the top-ranked Crimson Tide 35-31  in the College Football Playoff.


A 35-year title drought for Clemson is over. The Tigers are national champions for the first time since 1981. 

Stay tuned for Part II tomorrow.

The Tiger Pregame Show from 2:30-5:30 Eastern Time and 1:30-4:30 Central Time 

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Memorial Stadium In 1950’s

(Photos Uploaded By Alan Cutts)
Today’s photo is of Memorial Stadium in the late 1950’s facing east.

You can notice that this picture was taken after the original Press Box was built (this one is actually bigger than the original Press Box).

You can also note that the wooden bleachers are still being used. Those wooden bleachers would be replaced by aluminum in 1972.

This picture was taken after the expansion of Memorial Stadium in 1958, which helps me pin the date of the photo to 1959 or 1960.

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The Tiger Pregame Show January 1st, 2018 1:30-4:30 Central Time 2:30-5:30 Eastern Time WCCP 105.5 FM In Upstate Of South Carolina wccpfm.com and Tune In App Streaming For Free

COACH DABOLL: Hope you guys had a good holiday. It's a good opportunity to be here. The people at the Allstate Sugar Bowl and people of New Orleans have been tremendous. It's a great opportunity for us. We've still got a lot of work ahead of us. We have to put a good week of practice and preparation in before the holiday. Got back out on the practice field here today ‑‑ or yesterday. So we're facing a really tough team that's highly ranked in all areas, the best team we've played in terms of statistics. They have a tremendous front seven who can get after the quarterback at length, athletics, second‑level defense, ball‑hawking guys are good. Coach [Brent] Venables does a great job with his team. It's been very difficult to prepare for. He has a variety of pressures, fronts, coverages. …

The Tiger Pregame Show January 1st, 2018 1:30-4:30 Central Time 2:30-5:30 Eastern Time WCCP 105.5 FM In Upstate Of South Carolina wccpfm.com and Tune In App Streaming For Free
Q. Is it easier to prepare for a team whose identity ‑‑ as you know, Derrick Henry is 80% of it or 70% of it, or if you know it's Baker Mayfield who everything's built around, kind of what one guy does. Is it more difficult that Alabama doesn't seem to feature one guy? COACH VENABLES: Oh, sure. Obviously, I think some things are going to be this is what we do and, at the other end, you're required to do it. And I think each one probably brings a little bit something different to the table. But, I mean, they are able to stay fresh. As much as anything, it's their ability to physically impose their will on people. And they've got terrific players, very highly recruited players in every single position in that huddle. So, even when everything is right, the margin for error is very little. Fundamenta…