Last week, ESPN continued its year long series called 150 years of College Football, a documentary about the game we all love and the traditions and stories that make the game so great. The series continued with rivalries as legends from the game and those in the media talked about the subject along with legendary moments and matchups that make up the greatest rivalries in college football.

During the one-hour show, former Miami Hurricanes head coach Jimmy Johnson said what makes a rivalry a rivalry is when both teams beat each other and its not dominated by one team. Maybe that’s why the Textile Bowl, as it was affectionately dubbed in 1981, wasn’t mentioned.

The Textile Bowl is the rivalry game between Clemson and NC State, a series that dates back to 1899. The two have met 87 times on the gridiron and every year since 1971.

The Textile Bowl was born from the fact Clemson and NC State have two of the largest university-level textile schools in the world, and from the textile industry’s historic importance in the economic development in the states of North Carolina and South Carolina.

According to Jimmy Johnson’s philosophy, the Clemson-NC State series is not a rivalry because the Tigers have owned the Wolfpack through the years, especially recently. Clemson has won 14 of the last 15 meetings.

However, I do not agree with Johnson. A rivalry is not always about wins and losses. There are many elements that make up a rivalry … the love-hate relationship between the fans, the coaches and the stories within the rivalry.

There was the 1967 game when Clemson painted its shoes orange to counter the NC State defense, which became known as the white shoes defense that season, as the entire unit wore white shoes for solidarity. Clemson, who wore black cleats back in those days, like most teams, had to go to eight different stores in the Clemson area to get enough orange paint.

The Tigers went on to upset the No. 10 Wolfpack that year, 14-6, on their way to winning a third straight ACC Championship.

In 1979, Clemson’s Danny Ford elected to go for the win with 3:17 remaining instead of a tie. Trailing 16-13, the Tigers faced fourth-and-goal from the NC State 2-yard line. Ford ran Tracy Perry on fourth down, but the fullback was held short of the goal line and the Wolfpack won the game and eventually the ACC Championship. As it turned out, a tie would have given the Tigers the conference crown.

Three years later, Clemson beat the Wolfpack 38-29 in Raleigh on its way to a second consecutive ACC Championship. However, the story of the day had nothing to do with what happened in the game. Instead it came during the post-game handshake.

Clemson’s football program was in the middle of an NCAA investigation and Ford accused NC State head coach Monte Kiffin of telling the NCAA he and his staff were performing illegal recruiting practices, causing the NCAA to interview NC State players, who had been recruited by Clemson as well.

A Raleigh television station picked up some of the conversation at midfield.

“My ass you didn’t turn us in,” said Ford to Kiffin.

The story eventually made national headlines and triggered a feud between the two fan bases.

Recently, the feud between Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and NC State head coach Dave Doeren, has made the rivalry off the field interesting, again.

Since 2013, Doren’s first year in Raleigh, there has been some sort of incident that has caused one of the two coaches to have to call and apologize.

In the 2013 game, former Clemson offensive tackle Isaiah Battle punched an NC State player, and Swinney had to call Doeren an apologize.

“Oh my God! At the end of the game. He lost his mind,” Swinney said.

Doeren had to do the apologizing following the 2015 game when NC State assistant coach Des Kitchings shoved former Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson in the back during the Tigers’ win in Raleigh.

In 2016, Clemson running back Wayne Gallman was knocked out of the game due to a concussion and the next day, during his coaches show, Doeren mentioned Gallman leaving the game to injury as part of the game plan. The next day he called Swinney to explain his words and apologized for any confusion in his statement.

Then there was two years ago in Raleigh, when a Clemson student worker for the athletic communications team was uploading social media content from a laptop on the sidelines. Doeren demanded the ACC investigate it during his post-game press conference.

Also during the game, former NC State defensive end Bradley Chubb was caught on camera several times swiping Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant’s towel during the game which resulted in a conversation between him and an official.

Because of some questionable calls during the game, the Wolfpack fans even got into at the end as they were throwing items from the stands at the Clemson players as they were leaving the field.

“I did not really understand the laptop stuff,” Swinney said prior to last year’s game. “It was all good. I get along fine with Dave. It is just a very competitive game. They’re a good team. They’re well coached. They have good players, and both teams want the same thing. They want it bad and that is why it has been a very competitive game.”

And that’s why it’s a rivalry. A rivalry isn’t always about who wins and who losses.

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