Tavien Feaster’s transfer spices up Palmetto Bowl, puts former Clemson teammates in awkward position
By Keith Farner
Published:
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has softened his stance since August about RB Tavien Feaster’s transfer from Clemson to South Carolina.
Plenty aware of heated rivalries, Swinney recalled having friends on the Auburn side of the Iron Bowl even though he suited up for Alabama.
In August, Swinney said Feaster graduated from Clemson in 2 1/2 years and “earned the right” to transfer in search of more playing time.
“I wish him all the best, all but one of them,” Swinney told reporters, including ESPN’s Marty Smith. “It’s no different whether he’s going to your rival or somebody else on your schedule, that’s kind of where we are in college football right now. … At the end of the day, he’s a young man I care about, a young man I respect and a young man I love. Always will. Valuable member of our team while he was here. Nothing negative about it in our conversations. He was a model student-athlete for us.”
It will be unusual for Clemson OL Sean Pollard, who shared an interesting story, via Todd Summers, about still having Feaster’s number in his cell phone.
“It’ll be a little different,” Pollard said. “It says ‘Tavien Feaster’ with two Tigers (emojis) next to it. So it’ll be a little different. I know our defense will mess around with him a little bit. I hope I see him before the game and share a few words with him. Brother for life. He came here in my recruiting class. No hard feelings. He made a business decision and that is his decision, but I’ll respect him for it.
Feaster transferred after he lost his job to Travis Etienne last season and found more playing time and chances to be the starter at South Carolina. South Carolina has searched for a dependable every-down running back since Mike Davis left in 2014 when he nearly had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons (1,183 yards and 982).
A groin injury has limited Feaster, and other running backs like Rico Dowdle and Kevin Harris have had their own injuries. So the Gamecocks are still searching for a 1,000-yard rusher who can stay healthy. Feaster is expected to return this week for his first appearance in 3 games.
Feaster leads the team with 625 rushing yards in 9 games with 5 touchdowns. But his yards per carry average is 5.58. Dowdle has 478 yards also in 9 games with 4 touchdowns.
Feaster had the second-best yards-per-carry average in Clemson history (5.99, behind Etienne’s 7.79). He rushed for 1,330 yards and caught 23 passes for 183 yards, with 16 touchdowns in 3 seasons. He’s also a solid contributor in the Palmetto Bowl. He had 117 yards on 21 carries and 2 touchdowns in 3 games against them.
In August, against North Carolina, he made history.
Retired Clemson SID Tim Bourret said, “According to my records Tavien Feaster is first player to score a TD for Clemson and South Carolina. I know of only two others to play for both schools, Carey Cox in 1940s and Paul Williams between 1978-81.”
Make no mistake, South Carolina needs a big game from Feaster and the running game in light of WR Bryan Edwards’ likely absence following knee surgery. He’s had just 2 100-yard games this year, but the team in general has struggled to run the ball in recent weeks. The Gamecocks have only one 100-yard rushing game in the last four games, a 205-yard effort against Vanderbilt. That would also help the inconsistent passing game that has also struggled as the Gamecocks have lost 4 of their last 5 games.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
