USC alumna Audrey Taylor graduated from the university in the spring of 2024, where she became a dedicated follower of the Gamecocks' NCAA Division I sports teams.
But growing up, Taylor frequently donned orange and purple clothes while watching Clemson sporting events.
Taylor’s father, James Taylor, grew up in Spartanburg and has attended Clemson football games since he was young. Although he never attended Clemson University, James Taylor eventually passed his passion for the Tigers' sports programs onto his daughter, which carried on for decades while he served in the U.S. Air Force.
“It’s just kind of how it was. You just grow up, that’s who you’re a fan of. You hate Carolina. You get really excited for the Carolina-Clemson game, wear all the orange and purple,” Audrey Taylor said. “I have pictures of me as a little kid with little Clemson bows in my hair.”
The South Carolina-Clemson rivalry began in 1896 when the two schools' football teams played an official game for the first time. Since then, the rivalry between both universities has extended beyond athletics, but tensions reach a yearlong high each November when the Gamecocks and Tigers meet on the gridiron.
The rivalry was not completely one-sided in the Taylor family, though, since Audrey Taylor’s older brother and sister gravitated more towards the Gamecocks, despite also not going to USC. And the Taylor family is far from the only one with ties to both universities.
On the outside, the rivalry appears to divide the state and families that live within it. But, in reality, it has done the exact opposite. Several students told The Daily Gamecock it has brought together their family members from opposing sides who share a similar passion, despite that passion being for opposite teams.
Crossing the divide
Audrey Taylor is not the only South Carolina fan who was introduced to the rivalry through parents and other relatives who were Clemson alumni.
Third-year international relations student Doug Ruff, a native of Ridgeway, South Carolina, said his paternal grandfather graduated from Clemson’s ROTC program before serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Second-year marine science student Griffin Andrews, despite not being from the Palmetto State, developed early ties to Clemson through his mother, who also attended the university.
First-year middle-level education student Jazmine Sepulveda Saladin's connection to Clemson was even more unique. The university played a part in helping her acclimate to a new country, as she moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic at an early age.
“My mother attended Clemson starting in 2008, and she got her doctorate degree there,” Sepulveda Saladin said. “I actually grew up in one of the Clemson daycares there because I was only 3 when I came to the United States, so I learned English from the daycare that was there.”
But as Ruff, Andrews and Sepulveda Saladin grew older, they faced a difficult decision: Should they attend the university they spent most of their childhood supporting or enroll at the school seen as its biggest rival?
The decision was an especially difficult one for second-year aerospace engineering student Jackson Lee.
Lee was born in Clemson and raised by a family where everyone — including his parents, siblings, aunts and uncles — went to Clemson, which made him a Tiger fan at an early age. But, despite his parents' wishes, Lee eventually became the first person in his family to not go to school there, citing academics as the primary reason he chose South Carolina over Clemson.
"How I convinced them to let me go here was Clemson didn't have aerospace engineering as a major. They only had it as a minor," Lee said. "Whenever I decided on aerospace, it made them realize I wasn't going to go Clemson, and I was either going to go to USC or further away."
Ruff, who spent two years at Midlands Technical College, said he was motivated to go to USC because of his late maternal grandfather, who grew up in Winnsboro during the Great Depression. Ruff said he felt inspired by the work ethic of his grandfather, who passed away months before Ruff sent in his transfer application.
"He not only went to Carolina, but he was able to be successful enough to provide for his family even after he passed away. And that's part of the reason I'm able to go to Carolina," Ruff said. "One of the things that I'm kind of excited about is to honor that legacy a little bit and be appreciative of what he left, in that respect."
No matter the specific reason for "crossing the divide" between South Carolina and Clemson, students said their decisions were met with a degree of understanding — and sometimes shock — from their parents.
"I told (my dad) immediately, and he had a surprised reaction, but a good reaction because ... he had confidence in that it was the right choice for me," Audrey Taylor said. "Of course, at first, he was like, 'Oh, you'll still cheer for Clemson football, won't you?' And I was like, 'No, so sorry.'"
Seeing the other side
Parents of recently-declared USC students, in many cases, would eventually grow to become more supportive after those initial reactions. That support extended beyond their children's decisions — sometimes, it even led to them rooting for their rival.
Audrey Taylor said her father purchased season tickets for South Carolina football games during her freshman year of college to spend more time with her. Eventually, he started wearing garnet and black gear at Williams-Brice Stadium and even watching South Carolina football games over Clemson football games if they happened at the same time.
“I told the people that were sitting around me, I said, ‘I’m decked out in black and garnet during the regular season," James Taylor said. "When the Clemson-Carolina game comes around, I’m going to look a little different.'"
Third-year political science student Tyler Helms also found his allegiances somewhat split between both programs. Helms said everyone on his mother's side of the family roots for Clemson, while his father's side of the family roots for South Carolina.
Helms, who hails from the Cayce-West Columbia area, has supported the Gamecocks his entire life. He is even a South Carolina football season ticket holder and a 10-year member of the Gamecock Club.
But the split between South Carolina became even personal for Helms in 2020 — the year his younger brother, Hunter Helms, was a freshman quarterback on the Clemson football team.
Tyler Helms will never wear an orange shirt or any clothing with Clemson's tiger paw logo adorned on it, he said. But in situations where South Carolina was not playing against the Tigers, he found himself "pulling for Hunter, not Clemson."
"It was definitely interesting when he went to Clemson because ... I would hope, especially if he got in, I hoped that he would do good," Tyler Helms said. "But other than that, when Carolina was playing him, I'm like, 'Listen, dude. This game, Cocks all day. Cocks by 90.'"
Sepulveda Saladin said her mother goes great lengths to only use Clemson merchandise, even if it means being jokingly told not to.
“My mom came with me on Admitted Students Day, and she walked around with a Clemson umbrella the entire time,” Sepulveda Saladin said. “She did have contraband that entire time, and she was told a few times that she wasn’t allowed to have the umbrella on campus, so it was quite funny seeing how the rivalry kind of came to life outside of my family."
Ruff said the rivalry between South Carolina and Clemson can be a contentious topic, often leading to bitter arguments and unsavory interactions. That's why having a neutral view of the rivalry, even if one has ties to either side, can be beneficial for fans of both teams, Ruff said.
“I think (for) some people, it's really easy to be kind of jaded by the rivalry or almost get a little too invested in it. I think, for me, I try and stay a little more balanced,” Ruff said. “I'm not going to root against Clemson unless they’re playing the Gamecocks, obviously. I can say good things about the university (Clemson) … I think both are two real assets to the state.”
The power of connections
But in many cases, USC students said the annual South Carolina-Clemson football game and other sporting events between both universities' athletic programs, serve as a bridge that connects people from both sides.
Those connections were apparent when Andrews watched his first Palmetto Bowl as a USC student last November, he said.
“The whole family, they would kind of divide themselves between the two of us or maybe just root for one team if they were doing better at a time,” Andrews said. “We just had a ton of fun with it, and we’re just poking jokes at each other throughout the whole thing.”
As far as this year's Palmetto Bowl goes, James Taylor, Audrey Taylor and her 11-year-old cousin will be in attendance at Clemson's Memorial Stadium on Nov. 30. Audrey Taylor and her will both be wearing garnet and black, while James Taylor will wear orange and purple.
Audrey Taylor and her father may not see eye-to-eye on who will win the game, but she said they both have a mutual understanding about the bond each of them possesses with their respective school.
“The school means a lot to me as an alumni. I would never make a different choice about the college that I would go to. And I think my dad respects that a lot,” Audrey Taylor said. “Even though he didn’t go to Clemson, he still has a big connection with the university, and I think he kind of respects that I have that connection, too, with USC.”
James Taylor said that, even though he no longer sees his daughter on a daily basis, the South Carolina-Clemson rivalry gives him another reason to maintain a close relationship with her, no matter the physical distance between them.
“She’s out of the house now. She’s living in her own apartment, but that’s still something that we have a connection to,” James Taylor said. “My favorite season is football. That’s one of the things we can always look forward to and knowing that, ‘Hey, we’ll both be in town for Saturdays from September to December.'”