By Ed McGranahan.

By Ed McGranahan

There was a lot to digest from Saturday night’s 27-17 South Carolina win over Clemson, and more than a few sour stomachs.

Chad Morris tried to be introspective though he probably would have been happier chewing glass than trying to explain another implosion against South Carolina. Two years into this journey with Clemson and Morris, the former math teacher, can’t decipher the Gamecocks defense.

Here’s some good news and bad news for Clemson fans.

Based on two games against South Carolina, the Clemson offensive coordinator should be around to collect another $1.3 million because I doubt anybody’s going to be rushing to offer him a job that pays significantly more.

“I think it was a tale of two halves, to be honest with you,” Morris said. “I think the first half we had everything like we want it, great tempo and I thought we were playing at a high level.

“The second half, I think we came out and would say we were limited on opportunities. We didn’t capitalize on them.”

Fourth nationally in scoring and sixth in total offense through 11 games, Clemson was held to 28 points and 200 yards under its averages. After establishing a respectable run game and scoring touchdowns on consecutive possessions in the first quarter, Clemson was limited to 168 total yards and a field goal.

Morris said he wasn’t surprised by anything Jadeveon Clowney did to disrupt Clemson’s rhythm, which he admitted was nonexistent. And he didn’t truly have an explanation for the relative absence of Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins from the flow.

“It wasn’t by design,” he said. “We were trying to get those guys the ball.”

Quarterback Tajh Boyd might have been excused for dodging the issue since he had trouble escaping Clowney’s long reach, yet he stood upright and fielded every question when it was evident he was troubled by what had happened.

“We didn’t come prepared all the way,” said Boyd, who fell from the fringe of the Heisman Trophy conversation after looking very much like the same player he was in last year’s game against USC. “We got out of our game plan a little bit. “We got into a situation where we had to dig ourselves out of some holes.”

Senior center Dalton Freeman, ever proud, could not accept that South Carolina had done a number on Morris and the Clemson offense, again.

This cost so much more than a notch in the belt. Instead of a Sugar Bowl berth in New Orleans, Clemson will probably find itself in the Chick-fil-A Bowl again this New Year’s Eve.

“It’s not anything they did. It’s us, it’s not them,” he said. “Good news is that nobody’s lined up and beat us. We beat ourselves.

“When we play our style of football, take care of the ball, good things happen, but when you go out there and sputter nothing good happens.”

It’s a nine-hour drive to New Orleans, and Clemson made an unscheduled stop. It should be interesting to see if Dabo Swinney can get this juggernaut rolling, again.