Clemson Considers South Carolina a Rival, Not Ohio State
Over the past year, there has been a lot of back-and-forth between the Clemson and Ohio State fan bases.
With the two teams set to face off this weekend in the Sugar Bowl for the third time in the past five years, some may be tempted to call the series a budding rivalry. Especially considering the fact that all three of those games will have taken place in the College Football Playoff.
However, the Tigers are currently 3-0 against the Buckeyes under head coach Dabo Swinney and 4-0 all-time. While some of the fans may consider it a rivalry, particularly on the Ohio State side of things, Clemson wide receiver Amari Rodgers doesn't see it that way at all.
"Not to me, to be honest," Rodgers said on Tuesday. "This feels nothing like the South Carolina rivalry or any other games now that we may see as a rivalry. You know, I feel like they have more beef with us than we have with them so that's really on them to be honest."
Rodgers says the Tigers have certainly seen some of the talk over the past year and that while it can be used as motivation, the culture inside the Clemson program has them preparing to be their best each and every week, regardless of the opponent.
"We see it, everybody sees it on the media and stuff like that," Rodgers said. "We use it as motivation, but at the end of the day, we're just playing for each other and playing for Clemson and our standard which is best. So that's what we do every single day we come out and we prepare to our standard."
Rodgers says the Tigers are treating this matchup as they would any other game on the schedule, and just because the two teams have played each other a lot over the past few years, that doesn't make them rivals. Not in the eyes of the Tigers anyway.
"I don't really see it as a rivalry to be honest, Rodgers said. "It's just one of those teams that we've happened to play a lot since I've been here. You know, they've been great games every single time, but you know, I don't see them as a rival."
