The top-ranked Clemson Tigers travel to Columbia today to take on their rivals, the South Carolina Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Tigers come into the game ranked No. 1 in all three major polls or rankings, and are looking to improve to 12-0 for the first time since the 1981 season, when they won their only national championship to this point. The Gamecocks have lost four straight and come into the game 3-8 overall, the worst season for the program since it went 0-11 in 1999.
Clemson defense vs. South Carolina’s Pharoh Cooper: The South Carolina wide receiver leads the Gamecocks with 96.6 total yards per game. He does it all for the Gamecocks. They use him on reverses. They line him up in the backfield. He lines up everywhere at wide receiver. He plays the quarterback in the wildcat formation and he can throw the ball, too. Cooper is the kind of guy that gives all defensive coordinators headaches. The Tigers struggled against Syracuse in the zone-read triple option. Don’t be surprised if the Gamecocks try something similar against the Tigers. Advantage: South Carolina
South Carolina’s Perry Orth vs. Clemson’s defense: Orth completed 28 of 43 passes for 367 yards and a touchdown in last week’s loss to the Citadel. For the season he has completed 55.8 percent of his passes for 1,710 yards and nine touchdowns to go up against eight interceptions. Orth likes to move around and keep plays alive and does an okay job in the zone-read. The Tigers rank third in the country in pass defense and lead the nation in pass completion percentage defense. The Clemson secondary has 12 interceptions this season. Advantage: Clemson
Clemson’s defensive line vs. South Carolina’s offensive line: South Carolina has combined to rush for 93 yards the last two games against Florida and the Citadel. The Gamecocks are averaging 152.3 yards per game on the ground for the year. USC has done a decent job protecting the quarterback, allowing just 22 sacks this year. Clemson is giving up just 122.8 yards per game on the ground, including just 39 yards against Wake Forest last week. The Tigers are second in the ACC with 32 sacks. They had five against the Demon Deacons. Advantage: Clemson
Clemson’s offensive line vs. South Carolina’s defensive line: I know Dabo Swinney was singing the praises of USC’s depth up front, but depth doesn’t mean there is talent there. The Gamecocks are allowing 215.7 yards a game on the ground and are giving up 5.1 yards per carry. They have just 20 sacks. The Tigers are averaging 212.1 yards per game on the ground, are averaging 4.9 yards per carry. Clemson has allowed just 14 sacks. Advantage: Clemson
Deshaun Watson vs. South Carolina secondary: The Gamecocks are allowing 206.4 yards per game while opponents are completing 65.0 percent of their passes for 14 touchdowns. USC does have 12 interceptions this season. Watson has averaged 425.3 yards per game the last four times out, including 348 yards through the air. Overall, Watson has completed 70.1 percent of his passes this year for 2,944 yards and 26 touchdowns against 10 interceptions. He has also rushed for 642 yards and scored six touchdowns on the ground. Advantage: Clemson
Wayne Gallman vs. South Carolina’s defense: Last year, Gallman rushed for a career-high 191 yards against the Gamecocks. He has carried that over into this season where he has rushed for 1,043 yards, while averaging 104.3 yards per game, which is second in the ACC. Six times this year Gallman has rushed for 100 or more yards in a game. He is coming off a hurt ankle, which he injured two weeks ago at Syracuse. He sat out last week’s game against Wake Forest. He is expected to play against the Gamecocks. Advantage: Clemson
Bottom line: Clemson has outscored its opponents 141-47 in the first quarter this year and are averaging 27 points per game in the opening half. I feel like we will see a similar theme today, but the Gamecocks will use the emotions of the rivalry to keep them close early, but the Tigers will pull away by halftime and should cruise to an easy victory.
Prediction: Clemson 35, South Carolina 17