Game Day Blog: Clemson 37, South Carolina 32 Final
By: will-vandervort November 28, 2015

COLUMBIA — Clemson wins 37-31 over South Carolina. The Tigers improve to 12-0 for the first time since 1981.

Clemson will play No. 11 North Carolina next Saturday in Charlotte for the ACC Championship. A win there and the Tigers are headed to their first appearance in the College Football Playoffs.

As for Watson, he finished the day with 393 total yards and four touchdowns.

 

 

Deshaun Watson ran for his third touchdown of the afternoon to extend Clemson’s lead to 34-25 with 8:05 to play in the game. Greg Huegel missed the extra point.

The key play of the drive came on third down-and-seven from the Carolina 25. Watson delivered a strike to Trevion Thompson for 25 yards to the USC five-yard line. Three plays later, again of third down, Watson kept the ball himself and ran three yards for the touchdown with 8:05 to play.

That capped a 10-play, 64-yard drive which took 4:14 off the clock.

 

South Carolina takes advantage of a Artavis Scott fumble and cash in with a 1-yard touchdown run by Shon Carson. Nunez ran in the two-point conversion to pull the Gamecocks with three, 28-25 with 12:19 to play.

Clemson has now turned the ball over three times, all fumbles.

 

Clemson leads 28-17 at the end of three quarters, but South Carolina has shown a lot of fight. Perry Orth threw his second touchdown pass of the game as he hit Pharoh Cooper in stride on a slant pass with 8 seconds to play in the quarter to cut Clemson’s lead to 28-17.

The Gamecocks have 306 total yards. Clemson has 413.

 

Clemson took a 28-10 lead with 2:16 to play in the third quarter on a C.J. Fuller 4-yard touchdown. It was Fuller’s first touchdown of his career.

The score capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive which took 5:27.

Deshaun Watson is 15-of-20 for 215 yards and a touchdown, while he has run for 96 yards on 14 carries and has two rushing touchdowns.

 

 

Perry Orth brought South Carolina back on its first drive of the second half as he hit Deebo Samuel with a 7-yard touchdown pass with 7:43 to play in the quarter. That capped a 10-play, 76-yard drive that took 5:49 off the clock.

Clemson leads 14-10.

 

Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson faked out a would-be-tackler at the line of scrimmage and the raced 30 yards for the pylon before diving the final four yards for a touchdown.

On the play before, Watson threw a 27-yard pass to Artavis Scott, who initially appeared to fumble the ball at the USC 30-yard line, but the play was overturned by replay. Watson scored on the next play.

Watson had rushed for 87 yards on 13 carries and now has two rushing touchdowns in the game. He is 11 of 15 passing for 171 yards and a 55-yard touchdown pass to Deon Cain. The Watson touchdown give the Tigers a 21-3 lead.

 

South Carolina kicker Elliott Fry booted a 21-yard field goal with 24 seconds left in the opening half to get USC on the scoreboard. But the first half, in particular the second quarter, was owned by Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson.

The sophomore completed 10 of 14 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 41 yards and scoring on a five-yard run. Running back Wayne Gallman rushed for 75 yards on eight carries, but he fumbled two times.

The Tigers (11-0) did not get on the scoreboard until the 8:42 mark on the first quarter, when Watson ran of the right side of a 5-yard score. He hurdled a Gamecock defender on his way into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

Watson’s touchdown capped an 8-play, 83-yard drive that took 3:12 off the clock. Watson completed a 20-yard pass to Deon Cain to put the Tigers inside the red zone. Earlier in the drive Gallman broke off a 27-yard run.

Clemson went 94 yards on its next possession. Watson found Deon Cain running down the  right side where he delivered a 55-yard perfect strike. Cain made a beautiful catch over his left shoulder and walked into the end zone for a 14-0 lead with 4:17 to play in the half.

The Gamecocks totaled 150 yards in the first half, but 76 of those yards came on the last drive of the half. Lorenzo Nunez broke off a 51-yard run on second and long where slipped through the hands of Christian Wilkins. The running back Shon Carson broke a Ben Boulware would be tackle and rumbled 25 yards. A 24-yard pass to Pharoh Cooper moved the ball to the Clemson six, before the Tigers held for Fry’s 21-yard field goal.

Clemson totaled 261 yards on 35 plays, while the Gamecocks threw for just 44 yards on 5 of 15 passing with one interception. The Gamecocks, however, did run for 106 yards, though 72 yards of that came on the runs by Nunez and Carson.

 

Deshaun Watson threw a perfect 55-yard touchdown pass to Deon Cain, who made a nice over the shoulder catch to give Clemson a 14-0 with 4:17 to play in the opening half.

The touchdown pass to Cain completed a 8-play, 94-yard drive that took 2:53 off the clock. Watson is now 10 of 14 for 144 yards and a touchdown.

Watson has rushed for 41 yards on 11 carries, including his 5-yard touchdown. Wayne Gallman has 75 yards on eight carries.

 

Clemson broke a scoreless game with 8:42 to play in the first quarter when quarterback Deshaun Watson dove into the end zone.

Watson’s touchdown capped an 8-play, 83-yard drive that took 3:12 off the clock. Watson completed a 20-yard pass to Deon Cain to put the Tigers inside the red zone. Earlier in the drive Gallman broke off a 27-yard run.

 

Clemson was held scoreless in the first quarter all year. The Tigers are up 80-55 in total yards.

South Carolina has won the toss and has elected to receive the kickoff.

Clemson’s captains today are Lawson, Goodson, Seckinger and Peake.

 

The top-ranked Clemson Tigers are in 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 is wearing orange pants in Columbia for the first time since 2003 when they beat the Gamecocks, 63-17. Carolina wearing the garnet helmet from the 1983-’98. The Gamecocks are in all garnet uniforms.

Cock What!? We just heard Carolina calls their version of Tiger Walk, wait for it … Cock Walk! Ummm, okay. Kaila said, “I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

Records: Clemson 11-0; South Carolina 3-8

Series record: Clemson leads the series 66-42-4

Games in Columbia: Clemson leads 49-32-3

First meeting: South Carolina won 12-6 in 1896

Last Meeting: Clemson won 35-17 in 2014

Last South Carolina win: 31-17 in Columbia in 2013

Streak: South Carolina has won three straight in Columbia

Injuries: Clemson – Out: LB Korrin Wiggins (knee); WR Mike Williams (neck). Doubtful: WR Ray Ray McCloud (knee). Questionable: OG Tyrone Crowder (foot). Probable: DB Jefferie Gibson (concussion); LB Kendall Joseph (concussion); RB Wayne Gallman (ankle); DB Mackensie Alexander (knee). South Carolina – Questionable: OL Mike Matulis (ribs); DL Taylor Stallworth (Chest).

Stat worth noting: The Gamecocks are 3-1 when winning the turnover battle, while Clemson is 5-0 when turning the ball over more than its opponent. Carolina is 0-4 when the turnover battle is even and 0-3 when it losses it. The Tigers are 2-0 when the turnover battle is even and is 4-0 when they win the turnover battle.

Second stat worth noting: Clemson’s offense has recorded seven straight games in which it has totaled 500 or more total yards. The Tigers have averaged 40.6 points and 555.1 yards per game during the current seven game run.

Third stat worth noting: Clemson has outscored its opponent 272-87 in the first half this year, including 141-47 in the first quarter.

Memorable game: In 1981, Clemson closed out the regular season with a 29-13 victory over the Gamecocks in Columbia. The Tigers trailed early in the game, 7-0, when defensive back Rod McSwain blocked a first-quarter punt. The ball rolled into the end zone where Johnny Rembert landed on the ball for a Clemson touchdown. Though the Tigers missed the extra point and still trailed, the momentum shifted over to the Tigers and they did not relinquish it the rest of the day. McSwain’s brother, Chuck, rushed for 151 yards to lead the Clemson offense that day. He had a 23-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to seal the win for the Tigers. After McSwain’s fourth-quarter score, Clemson fans began throwing oranges on the field to signify the Tigers’ pending invitation to play in the 1982 Orange Bowl. The win gave the Tigers a perfect 11-0 record in the regular season, the first time the Tigers ended the regular season with a perfect mark since the 1948 squad went 10-0 in the regular season.