UofSC's five year run against Clemson seemed to mean the world to its fans. The fans acted as if it were something spectacular. So much so that the fans even posted five bomb pictures with Clemson fans and coaches. The fans seemed consumed with the run over Clemson - and they seemed to assume Clemson fans were as well.
With that perspective in mind, this year's win seems significant in a couple of ways:
1. The end of looking backward to prop up UofSC: After the five year run ended, UofSC fans liked to point backward in time to the point where their team had the upper hand. After the 2014 game, their fans could state that the Gamecocks had won 5 out of the last 6 games. After the 2015 game, the narrative became that South Carolina had won 5 of the last 7 games. This process of picking the number of years to look back continued for years. Even in the past year, South Carolina fans could claim that each team had split the last 10 games - 5 wins each.
That option is now over for South Carolina fans. There is no time period - none - in which South Carolina fans can look back and point to a winning record (or even a tied record) against Clemson. Go back any number of years - any number - (even all the way back to the Garden of Eden) and Clemson has a winning record against South Carolina.
2. Clemson's focus has been centered on other goals: Clemson fans have certainly enjoyed the current winning streak over UofSC. That said, it has not had the same level of meaning or importance for Clemson as it had for South Carolina. It has not been the primary focus of Clemson fans in regard to the football program. Assumedly, the reason for the difference in priority lies within the relative success of the two programs - both historically and currently. After the 2013 season when Clemson had lost its fifth straight to UofSC but then beaten Ohio St in the Orange Bowl, I remember Dabo predicting bold things to come for Clemson. He said something to the effect of beating South Carolina would be among the least of Clemson fans' worries (or "focus" or something to that effect).
At the moment at least, that prediction is one of many that Dabo has nailed correctly.