Clemson is investigating the vandalism of its iconic Howard’s Rock. (Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

By Zac Ellis

A case of vandalism has hit Clemson’s campus. The school announced on Wednesday night that its iconic Howard’s Rock at Memorial Stadium was vandalized by an unknown number of perpetrators sometime between June 2 and June 3.

The school released a statement confirming the vandalism:

“A small portion of The Rock was broken off of its pedestal after vandals broke the casing that protects the artifact.”

“There was no damage to the pedestal that supports the rock.”

Read More…

Clemson’s Sammy Watkins tallied just 708 receiving yards and three TDs in 2012. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

By Zac Ellis

Throughout the offseason, SI.com will spotlight several teams, players and coaches with something to prove heading into the 2013 season. To check out every edition of this series, click here.

Only a year removed from a dazzling freshman campaign in which he made 82 catches for 1,219 yards and 12 touchdowns, Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins entered the 2012 season with lofty expectations. Yet the 2011 All-America regressed in his second year, both on and off the field.

Watkins was arrested on drug-related charges in May 2012 and was subsequently suspended for the Tigers’ first two games. He then missed another game at Boston College with a stomach virus, and he played just one series in the Chick-fil-A Bowl against LSU before leaving with an ankle injury. All things considered, it added up to a subpar sophomore effort.

Here’s a comparison of Watkins’ 2011 and 2012 receiving numbers:

Read More…

By Holly Anderson

What a difference six months makes. Remember that time Tajh Boyd scored eight touchdowns in like 45 minutes of football? Now we are mining his Vine account for goat videos. May is terrible.

Given the general demeanor of Clemson’s mascot, we’re kind of surprised that’s all they found in the beer. (AP)

By Holly Anderson

Pertinent excerpts from this AP report on a Clemson study of the dangers of beer pong:

• “More research found that dangerous bacteria such as salmonella, listeria, e. Coli and staph on the balls end up in the beer when players make successful tosses into glasses.”

• “The students found the most extra bacteria — 3 million of the tiny organisms — on balls being used in an outdoor beer pong game. A ball being used in a game played on carpet had 200 bacteria on it.”

• ”It’s about the competition of throwing a ball in a cup, not about the alcohol,” Gains said. “We actually threw away a considerable amount of beer at our last tournament.”

By Zac Ellis

The rivalry between Clemson and South Carolina has bumped up a few notches over the last few seasons. The competitiveness is back, with the Gamecocks claiming the last four victories in a series historically dominated by the Tigers, and the war of words between Dabo Swinney and Steve Spurrier serving as a recipe for great pregame sparring.

Even though the two schools won’t match up until November, the next chapter of the in-state saga appears to have been written overnight. South Carolina staffers came to work Wednesday morning and found an orange tiger paw painted on one of the Gamecocks’ train cars. The vehicle, known as the Cockabooses, was parked next to the stadium.

Enough is Enough! @clem_sux #CockabooseVandalism twitter.com/cookescott/sta…

— Scott Cooke (@cookescott) April 16, 2013

Read More…

Deep in Clemson territory … an enemy awaits.

Chances Clowney is inside? http://t.co/HrSF0ZfX0k—
The Gurgling Cod (@TheGurglingCod) March 08, 2013

Fans of neutral-site football played in climate-controlled environments will find much to enjoy on opening weekend. (AP)

Unaffiliated viewers of high-profile neutral-site college football games, rejoice: There will be no choosing between the God’s House O’Chicken Kickoff and the Jerrydome Football Space Camp Classic this year. Per a Tuesday ESPN announcement, the Atlanta game, Alabama vs. Virginia Tech in the Georgia Dome, will kick at 5:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 31, while the Arlington clash, TCU vs. LSU at Cowboys Stadium, will get underway at 9 p.m. With the potential pointsplosion of Georgia at Clemson lurking in between at 8:00 p.m., it’s shaping up to be a very fine first Saturday indeed. Just under six months to go! [weeps uncontrollably]

One of the last great frontiers in rivalry trolling will be the rise of an underground blood sport between, say, USC and UCLA boosters, or warring factions of the Iron Bowl, to get as many opposing players into NCAA trouble via social media violations as humanly possible. This is a frontier that right now only exists in our imaginations, complete with a scoring system jotted down on assorted cocktail napkins, but until it coalesces into reality, a Frequently Asked Question:

Q. Should I be spending a lot of time tweeting at high school athletes in an attempt to sway their college choices?
A. No. This is invariably some combination of gross, dumb, unnecessary and a secondary violation.

If you decommit from Clemson you probably wear crocs and listen to One Direction.

— Ben Boulware (@benboulware7) January 7, 2013

Q. What if I, myself, am an elite high school athlete?
A. Then it is funny.

Ben Boulware is a Rivals three-star linebacker out of Anderson, South Carolina, and the first addition from the class of 2013 to our social media all-stars roster. Good topical awareness; great reach; diabolical hitting power. Tremendous upside.

If Brian Kelly takes the Eagles job, maybe there will be an NFL team that Alabama could beat

— Brandon (@TeamSpeedKills) January 10, 2013

• Eagles to turn next to R. Kelly. There are folks getting awfully het up at Brian Kelly (subscription required) for his dalliances with the Philadelphia Eagles, who are just trying to live frugally after printing up all those WE <3 COACH KELLY cocktail napkins for Chip.

Elsewhere in coach-hirin’ follies: Obvious international superspy Bob Toledo will rejoin Rocky Long as offensive coordinator at San Diego State … Chuck Bresnahan will coordinate Willie Taggart’s defense at South Florida … Bill Young is out and Glenn Spencer is in as Oklahoma State’s defensive coordinator … Texas A&M swipes West Virginia’s quarterbacks coach to serve as co-offensive coordinator in College Station … and from Regular Virginia, Kevin Sumlin snags an assistant who’d been with the Cavaliers for just over a week.

• Roster blotter. Eddie Lacy, Dee Milliner and D.J. Fluker will all leave Alabama early to enter the NFL draft … Clint Moseley has left Auburn football, though not Auburn … also draft-bound, Clemson’s Nuke Hopkins, Washington State’s Marquess Wilson and Georgia’s Kwame Geathers … Joseph Randle to turn pro, per Joseph Randle … LSU has, at last count, 11 early departures … notable non-departures include Texas A&M’s Jake Matthews and Texas’ Mike Davis … and spare some healing vibes for Notre Dame’s Kapron Lewis-Moore, whose BCS title game injury has been confirmed as an ACL tear.

Read More…

Johnny Football, tiptoeing to greatness with a thunder. (AP)

• Mack Brown offered the Manning Award as a safety. College football’s first freshman Heisman Trophy winner can add another accolade to his surely sagging trophy shelf: Johnny Manziel has won the Manning Award. Manziel entered the national lexicon with last year’s shirtless mugshot follies, won the starting job at Texas A&M as an underclassman, took home the Heisman, obliterated a former conference rival in the Cotton Bowl and will — football gods willing — continue to stay on his “hi, haters” message train throughout the forthcoming offseason. It is getting perilously close to impossible to hate Johnny Football, particularly if you don’t have a rooting interest in a defense that had to play him this year. Congrats, kiddo.

• Coach-firin’ follies. The silly season rolls on in the assistants derby: OUT goes Louisiana defensive coordinator Greg Stewart … IN comes Mario Cristobal at Miami in a most excellent personnel coup for the ‘Canes … and IN comes Ted Roof, back at Georgia Tech? (Related reading: “Has the internet desensitized us to the extraordinary?”)

• Gettin’ drafty. GONE: Tennessee’s three brightest offensive stars. BACK: Tajh Boyd, whose future presence, along with Aaron Murray’s, makes Clemson’s Week 1 date with Georgia an absolute must-watch game. GONE, TEARILY: Outland Trophy winner Luke Joeckel, whose letter to the faithful of Texas A&M you simply must read.

• Roster blotter. Burnt Orange Nation has the latest on the allegations against Case McCoy and Jordan Hicks … charges are expected against Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey.

Read More…