30 bucket list items college football fans need to experience

9. Howard’s Rock and Running Down the Hill, Clemson

There are college football traditions that send chills down the spine of every fan in attendance, and few compare to the electricity in the stadium when the Clemson Tigers touch Howard’s Rock and run down “The Hill” onto the field at Memorial Stadium. It’s been called the most exciting 25 seconds in the sport.

Howard’s Rock was named for head coach Frank Howard, who took the job prior to the 1940 season. Howard from 165 games at Clemson through 1969, and guided the Tigers to six bowl games. He and the Tigers won seven outright conference championships – two in the Southern Conference, including an 11-0 1948 squad and five in the ACC – and Clemson finished the season ranked in the Top 20 of the AP Poll six times under his watch.

In addition to helping the Tigers earn national acclaim on the field, Howard played a huge role in shaping one of college football’s greatest traditions. As the story goes, a Clemson graduate and Howard’s friend, Samuel Columbus Jones, gave Howard a rock from Death Valley, California at some point in the 1960s. After years keeping it in his office, Howard allowed an administrator to take it in 1966, and the administrator, Gene Willimon, installed it in a prominent place in the east end zone atop the hill the players ran down from the locker room.

The rock became a motivational tool after the Tigers beat Virginia in the first game after its installation. Players began rubbing the rock before taking the field against Wake Forest in 1967, a game Clemson also won.