I was listening to a football podcast the other day and the the two hosts were debating rankings of the top coaches during their time covering the sport. After agreeing that Nick Saban was #1, there was a hearty debate between Urban Meyer and Dabo Swinney for #2. Names like Bobby Bowden, Pete Carroll, and Jimmy Johnson followed. It was a reminder of how lucky we’ve been to enjoy a run like the Tigers are on!

It took a financially painful contract extension of Coach Tommy Bowden followed by a terrible start to 2008 season to put Clemson in position to hire Coach Swinney. It took incredible guts to pull the trigger on the wildly risky hire of an inexperienced coordinator. On top of that, it was fortunate that he hadn’t left the offseason prior when UAB seemed like a very real landing spot for the then WR coach. Despite all the improbable twists and turns, here we are with six ACC championships, five college football playoff berths, and two national titles under Coach Swinney.

As this amazing run under Coach Swinney has now grown to be somewhat lengthy, I wanted to highlight some of my favorite moments and memories from this era of Clemson football. There were too many moments to fit into one blog post so this is part one of two. Even so, I’m sure I’m forgetting some great Swinney-era moments before 2016, so please share more in the comments below.

Rennie Moore Sack of Clint Trickett Seals Second-Ever Atlantic Division Title for Tigers (2011)

Rennie Moore! Remember that name? Remember when a stretch of three games against Auburn, FSU, and at VT seemed like an unfair and impossible tasks put in front of us by the league office? Well, that’s what Clemson faced in September of 2011.

First came Auburn, who had beaten Clemson in Jordan-Hare the year before on the way to a National Championship. With QB Tajh Boyd at the helm and new OC Chad Morris calling the shots, Clemson offense was more explosive than ever. The Tigers upended the defending champs 38-34.

Next came Florida State. Although it was early in the year, it nonetheless seemed likely that #21 Clemson would have to beat #11 FSU and grab hold of the head-to-head tie-breaker if they were to win their second-ever ACC Atlantic title and get another crack at the ACC Championship.

When Florida State had the ball with a chance to win late in the fourth quarter, a lot was on the line. With the crowd roaring, Clemson’s defense forced FSU into 4th & 9. That’s when DT Rennie Moore broke through the middle of the Seminole offensive line and drilled FSU QB Clint Trickett square in the chest. A sack that ended the game!

Moments from guys like Rennie Moore, Tajh Boyd, and Sammy Watkins were crucial in setting up the dynasty to come. The Tigers would go on to upset Virginia Tech in their next game and then upset them again in Charlotte to win their first ACC Championship game and take home Clemson’s first conference title since 1991.

4th & 16... Tigers prove their mettle against LSU Tigers (2012)

Back in 2012, Clemson was perceived as being a clear notch below LSU. When both entered the Chick-fil-A Bowl at 10-2, it was an opportunity for Clemson to make a statement against big bad LSU from the vaunted SEC. LSU had QB Zach Mettenberger, WRs Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry, and a stellar defensive line headlined by star DEs Sam Montgomery (from Greenwood, SC) and Barkevious Mingo.

I lived in North Carolina back in 2012 so I was watching in downtown Winston-Salem surrounded by Wake Forest and NC State fans. Back then, we were such an underdog that everyone in sight was pulling for their ACC brethren.

Sammy Watkins was injured in the first quarter and game seemed lost, but the Tigers kept battling and kept it close. QB Tajh Boyd took a beating, but fearlessly kept charging ahead, finishing the game with 29 rushing attempts. Without a healthy Watkins, Boyd focused on Nuk Hopkins, who 13 receptions for 191 yards and 2 TDs.

Clemson entered the fourth quarter down 11. A field goal brought them within 8 as their frenetic pace began wearing on LSU’s defense. A Tajh Boyd TD pass gave them a chance to tie the game, but the two-point conversion failed, leaving them trailing by two. Fortunately, LSU’s aggressive play-action pass failed and they punted the ball back to Clemson. Clemson needed just a field goal to win, but moved backwards on their first three downs setting up this desperation 4th & 16 play:

After the conversion, Clemson worked their way into field goal range. When Chandler Catanzaro’s FG was sailed through the uprights I turning around and hugged a random person in the bar. It turned out he was an NC State fan, but it was ok on that night, even they were cheering for us back then. Chandler Catanzaro had kicked Clemson up a tier in the college football pecking order.

Sammy Watkins breaks tackle, beats Georgia (2013)

In 2013, Georgia at Clemson was the most anticipated sporting event I had ever attended. My sister considered a Labor Day wedding, but my begging (but mostly a conflict with her best friend) thankfully moved the date. I bought season tickets just to get this game (and I’ve kept them ever since).

Growing up in Atlanta, the Bulldogs were king. My senior year of high school, they skunked Clemson, 30-0. Despite last year’s 11-2 season, I still wasn’t sure we could topple the Dawgs. This was the type of game Clemson would never win in the past, but in the last two years things had started to change.

The crowd was electric, probably the loudest I had ever heard. The Tigers ran down the hill as balloons flew and fireworks shot. It was a spectacle. It was a back and forth game, but one play has stuck in my mind and was early on with the game tied at 7-7.

Watkin’s combination of speed and strength was on full display here as he lowers his shoulder to break a tackle and then speeds past the rest of the defense. It was a back-and-forth game as the Bulldogs battled hard with one of the all-time great QB/RB combos in SEC history (QB Aaron Murray/RB Todd Hurley). In the end, it became one of the most memorable performances by QB Tajh Boyd and WR Sammy Watkins as they propelled the Clemson program closer and closer to the truly elite status they now enjoy.

Deshaun Ends the Gamecocks Streak on One Leg (2014)

It seems like it was over 20 years ago when U of SC was a tough opponent that held a five-game win streak over the Tigers, but it was just 2014 when the Cocks came to Death Valley looking to extend their streak to six games.

They’d undoubtedly started to slide, entering the game at just 6-5, but Clemson’s star QB, Deshaun Watson, had an injured knee and would be either out or limited. It was just two games ago that he exited against GT with the injury and watched the Tigers implode without him. The general consensus was they had no chance at ending the ugly rivalry streak without him.

Like Willis Reed in the 1970 NBA Finals or Curt Schilling in the 2004 ALCS, Watson was determined to play through pain for his team for the win. It’s hard to remember just how much ending the streak meant for Clemson at the time. While the program was skyrocketing towards elite status, their losing streak to their rival hung around their neck like an anchor.

The Tigers held a 21-7 lead with under 4 minutes in the first half when Watson was replaced by the also banged up QB Cole Stoudt. Stoudt promptly threw an INT, which the Gamecocks turned into a field goal, and the teams entered halftime with the score at 21-10 Clemson. Clemson fans wondered if Watson would return. After Stoudt’s showing against GT and brief appearance in this game, it figured if Watson could not return, prospects for hanging on for a victory were bleak.

Watson heroically returned and guided the Tigers to a 35-17 streak-ending victory. While the running game with Wayne Gallman and “Jet Toss” with Artavis Scott were the keys to victory, having Watson at the helm made all the difference (and Cole Stoudt got his redemption in the bowl game too). Watson finished 14/19 with no turnovers. He threw two TDs (on jet tosses to Scott) and ran for two more. The most memorable play from the game was the second touchdown “pass” from Watson where Artavis Scott barely managed to stay in-bounds by stepping on the defenders hand:

Shortly after the game, it was revealed that his knee injury wasn’t just a sprain, but a torn ACL. With that, his legendary status was cemented and this game will forever be remembered as the one where Watson beat U of SC on one leg. Legendary!

Clemson Brings Their Own Guts and Beats Notre Dame in Hurricane, Becomes Elite (2015)

The rain was pouring down, but the teams took the field and the crowd was as raucous as I had seen since Georgia visited in 2013. The absurdity of the situation - playing the biggest game of the year in the middle of a huge storm - seems to fuel the fans even more. Then the Tigers jumped out in front and it got even more wild. Passing TDs to Leggett and Scott gave the Tigers a 14-0 lead. They headed into halftime up 14-3. When the Tigers kicked off to start the second half, Lakip - the kicker - jarred the ball loose on the tackle. Clemson recovered and Watson ran it in to give the Tigers a 21-3 lead soon thereafter. When that happened, I looking up to the sky at as rain drops pelted me in the face and screamed “WE ARE ELITE!” Our breakthrough moment seemed to have truly arrived and the magical dream season was happening.

Notre Dame stormed back though and had two shots in the red zone to tie the game. They fumbled the first one away inside the Clemson 5-yard line, but got another chance and punched in a TD with under 30 seconds remaining. On the two-point conversion attempt, Boulware and the Tiger defense stuffed the QB run and preserved the win. The Tigers were now firmly a national championship contender for the first time in my life, and they have been ever since.

After the game, I headed back to Brooks lot where I’d parked. It took over an hour to exit and another two to get back home in Atlanta. Despite it being 3am, I stayed up another hour watching highlights. That’s when I saw the famous BYOG press conference and went to sleep as happy as could be!

...What I told ‘em tonight was listen, we give you scholarships, we give you stipends, meals, a place to live. We give you nice uniforms. I can’t give you guts and I can’t give you heart. And tonight it was BYOG -bring your own guts - and they brought some guts and some heart and they never quit to the last play...”

I hope this first installment of “Moments to be Thankful For” has been a fun read and brings back nostalgic memories. I also hope that in this challenging time it prompts you to pause and reflect not just on just how good we’ve had it with Clemson football, but also more broadly, to reflect on the many blessings you and your family enjoy and that we as Americans and people living in the modern era with modern medicine enjoy.

Look out for the second and final installment of this series to come in less than a week. In the meantime, vote in our poll below let us know which moments I’m forgetting to be thankful for in the comments.