When the Clemson Tigers run down The Hill, it's the most exciting 25 seconds in college football. --
Brent Musberger, ABC Sports

Clemson football is synonymous with The Hill and Howard's Rock. The sight of 85,000 orange clad fans clapping and yelling at the top of their lungs as the Tigers stand at the top of The Hill and rub The Rock is enough to intimidate any visiting team in Death Valley. The sights and sounds after the cannon fires and the Tigers storm down The Hill to "Tiger Rag" is even more imposing.

Opposing players and coaches praise the traditions as two of the best in college football. The aura that surrounded Howard's Rock impressed Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer so much that he went back to try and create something similar in Blacksburg. Still, what makes the tradition even more impressive is the very humble beginnings that the tradition stems from.

When Memorial Stadium was first completed to house football games in 1942, the Tigers locker rooms were still in Fike Field House. The closest point of entry to the stadium was the gate along Williamson Road. The Tigers would cross the street and run down the hill on the east side of the stadium for part of their warm-ups. This continued to be the method of entrance for the Tigers for nearly a quarter of a century without any sort of fanfare.

The next big step in the evolution of the trademark of Clemson Tiger football was when Clemson alumnus S.C. Jones made a trip to Death Valley, California in 1964 or 1965. Memorial Stadium had received the nickname "Death Valley" 17 years earlier when former Presbyterian College coach had been quoted in the media saying that he was taking the Blue Hose to play Clemson in Death Valley, due to PC's horrible record there.

While Jones was in Death Valley, he found a white flint rock that he decided to take back to give to the Tigers head coach at the time, Frank Howard. The 1919 graduate presented the rock to Howard claiming it "from Death Valley, California to Death Valley, South Carolina."

Howard found no immediate use for the rock, and it sat on the floor in his office for at least one year. Upon realizing the rock was still there one day, Howard told the executive secretary of IPTAY at the time, Gene Willimon, to "take the rock and throw it over the fence, or out in the ditch -- do something with it, but get it out of here."

Willimon, for one reason or another, decided to save the rock. From there the story becomes legend.

Coach Howard began to use the term "Death Valley" to describe Memorial Stadium himself in the 1950s. From that point on the name stuck.

Then on September 24, 1966, the Rock was placed on a pedestal on the top of the hill. That day the Rock showed its first magic powers in the eyes of Tiger fans, leading Clemson back from an 18-point deficit midway through the third quarter to defeat Virginia.

Almost exactly one year later, players started rubbing the Rock before running down the hill and Coach Howard spoke the infamous words still instilled in players today before they are allowed to touch the stone. "If you're going to give me 110 percent, you can rub my rock," Howard said. "If you're not, keep your filthy hands off of it."

Though all the events were in place for the tradition to continue unchanged, Coach Howard's retirement brought a short end to the Tigers running down the Hill. When Hootie Ingram became the head coach for the 1970 football season, the locker rooms had moved to their current location in the west end zone. Ingram decided to not bother with the hassle of getting the players around to the east side of the stadium to make their entrance from the Hill.

The Tigers did not run down the hill for the 1970, '71 and most of the '72 season. The team had a dismal home record of 6-9 during that span. Finally, the team asked to be able to enter via the Hill before the season ending game against USC in 1972. Following a nail-biting 7-6 victory, the tradition began again.

Today the Tigers perform their warm-ups before heading back into the locker room for last minute preparations. Then, the team boards buses to cart everyone to the gate on Williamson Road. As the players swarm around Howard's Rock, the band breaks into Tiger Rag and the crowd builds its excitement. The cannon fires and a stream of orange helmets flows down onto the field, following the Tiger mascot and a Tiger Paw flag. The crowd erupts, thousands of orange balloons are released into the sky and the band plays the final stanza of Tiger Rag.

"I have been around some pretty nice, high profile programs, and I've seen that Clemson's running down The Hill is unique to college football," said head coach Tommy Bowden. "Florida State's got a horse, and Michigan State's got a horse, Texas Tech's got a horse that they ride on. You've got Boston College Golden Eagles, Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles, and even with there being the LSU, Auburn, and Clemson Tigers you notice some similarities in traditions such as mascots. But, nobody runs down a hill in college football. So, Clemson has something that is unique to college football, and I think that's what makes it special."