LSU vs Clemson: Which Death Valley is the Real Death Valley?
There is one thing to focus our thoughts on between LSU and Clemson, who will face off New Year’s Eve in the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta. Which school has the real Death Valley?
LSU and Clemson have met only twice, once in the 1959 Sugar Bowl and more recently in the 1996 Peach Bowl, LSU won both times. I wouldn't call these tow teams a rivalry.
Over the years LSU’s Tiger Stadium and Clemson’s Memorial Stadium have come to be know as "Death Valley". Just what does death valley mean anyway. LSU coach Les Miles said it best when he spoke of Tiger Stadium after the LSU Tigers beat South Carolina in October: “That was Death Valley. That was the place where opponents’ dreams come to die.”
But which stadium became know as "Death Valley" first?
Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge has been around longer with the first game played there in 1924. Memorial Stadium wasn't built until 18 years later in 1942.
According to Clemson, Memorial Stadium has been officially referred to as Death Valley since 1948.
Former LSU sports information director Bud Johnson recalls Tiger Stadium being called Death Valley after LSU played Clemson for the first time.
Johnson said, “No one called it Death Valley here until after we played in the Sugar Bowl”. Johnson is now director of LSU’s Jack and Priscilla Andonie sports museum.
Via [Bleacher Report]