Associated Press
CLEMSON, S.C. ó Two weeks after his game-winning field goal at Williams-Brice Stadium, Clemson kicker Mark Buchholz went to South Carolina’s campus under equally hostile circumstances.
“It was my cousin’s wedding and it was actually on USC’s campus,” Buchholz said. “Pretty much all the groomsmen and everyone in the wedding were USC fans. … It was interesting.”
Not unexpected considering Buchholz plays a prominent role in the Palmetto State’s biggest sporting event each year. The Tigers (6-5) take on the Gamecocks (7-4) today.
Buchholz struggled much of last season, juggling his starting role on Clemson’s soccer team with his first year of kicking full-time for the Tigers. But one of Buchholz’s last acts of 2007 wiped away most of his past problems and set him up for a spectacular 2008.
Clemson had squandered a 17-7 lead and trailed 21-20 late in the fourth quarter. That’s when the Tigers, led by the quarterback-receiver combination of Cullen Harper and Aaron Kelly, made play after play to push the ball to South Carolina’s 16.
Buchholz did the rest, giving Clemson its fifth victory in its past six games against South Carolina.
“Last year was a weird feeling,” Buchholz said. “You don’t look at the scoreboard and you’re standing on the sidelines, you think you might be up 20 points with all the energy we had.”
Buchholz just wanted the Tigers to get him inside the 60 yard line because he knew he’d make it.