About Tiger Burn

The annual pep rally, which also features a tongue-and-cheek eulogy, is attended by both students and alumni. The show also includes members of football coaching staff and team, Cocky, the USC cheerleaders and dance team, student performance groups and musical entertainment.

The Carolina-Clemson game has been played since 1896 and uninterrupted since 1909. The idea of the Tiger Burn was born out of a full-scale riot in 1902. That year, when South Carolina scored an upset victory, Clemson students became angry about a drawing of a gamecock crowing over a beaten tiger. Eventually, both sides agreed to burn the poster in an effort to defuse tensions, but the fighting cemented the gamecock as the USC mascot.

For more than 12 years, South Carolina's "tiger" has been designed and built by a group of students from the USC student chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Previous tigers have included moving parts on a body that has extended into the night sky more than 30 feet. 

• 

  Tiger Burn has long history of fueling USC-Clemson rivalry

  The idea of burning Clemson’s mascot began after the 1902 game.

• 

  Engineering students prepare for annual Tiger Burn tradition

  The tiger is constructed in a warehouse on Catawba Street and requires 40 hours of work from the students.

• 

  A tiger built to burn

  A behind the scenes look at the Tiger Burn project.