COLUMBIA, S.C. – Two things can be true at the same time.

Yes, South Carolina plays in a tough conference. However, it has nothing to do with what happens in the Clemson-Carolina rivalry.

Since the Gamecocks were invited to be a member of the SEC in 1992, all everyone hears from their coaches, their players and most definitely their fanbase is how difficult it is to play in the SEC.

“We are so beat up because the SEC schedule is such a tough gauntlet,” they have said in the past, present and probably the future.

But here is why none of that has ever mattered and never will in this rivalry.

On Saturday, Clemson beat the Gamecocks, 28-14, at Williams-Brice Stadium without seven starters. And despite that, the Tigers were clearly the better team throughout the game, controlling it from the outset.

Even when South Carolina threw touchdown passes of 53 and 74 yards on back-to-back plays from scrimmage, Clemson answered both scores with one of their own.

Though they were down seven starters, the Tigers never trailed in the game.

And it was not as if Clemson was missing hum-hum guys. The Tigers were missing a playmaker and starting wide receiver Bryant Wesco. They were missing defensive end Jahiem Lawson, one of the team’s best defensive players. They were missing their best and most talented offensive linemen in Brayden Jacobs and Elyjah Thurmon. They were missing tight end Olsen Patt-Henry, one of the team’s best blockers and a playmaker in his own right.

Yet, no one on the Clemson team complained. No one made any excuses. No one whined about how difficult the game was going to be.

Nope, Clemson went to Columbia and did what it does most of the time in Columbia. It won the game and in the end it did it convincingly.

How do you know the Tigers dominated the game?

Two stats tell the story.

Clemson ran for 147 yards and held the Gamecocks to 69 rushing yards. Nothing says controlling the line of scrimmage more in a game than those two numbers.

The Tigers also had five sacks and four turnovers on defense. South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers, who ran all over Clemson’s defense last year for 166 yards and 2 TDs, did nothing with his legs in this game, and he tried.

Sellers ran 12 times for 2 yards. Seven of his runs—scrambles or designed runs—went for just 30 yards. He lost 28 on the five sacks.

I said before the game, if Clemson’s defensive front comes to play and controls the line of scrimmage, then the Tigers will win. I said, they could possibly win by two scores if they don’t beat themselves. For the most part, they did not.

Clemson, like it has in most years, simply beat South Carolina.

And Saturday’s result at Billy Brice proved what Clemson has always known – it had nothing to do with the Gamecocks’ daunting SEC schedule.