Clemson Opponents Preview: Week 13 South Carolina
By: Jason Priester July 30, 2026

With the beginning of fall camp at Clemson just around the corner, the start of the 2026 football season is inching ever closer.

With that in mind, now is a good time to start diving into the opponents on the Tigers’ schedule.

2026 Schedule

  • Sept. 5: at LSU
  • Sept. 12: vs. Georgia Southern
  • Sept. 19: vs. North Carolina
  • Sept. 25 (Fri.): at Cal
  • Oct. 3: vs. Miami
  • Oct. 10: Open Date
  • Oct. 17: vs. Charleston Southern
  • Oct. 24: vs. Virginia Tech
  • Oct. 31: at Florida State
  • Nov. 7: at Syracuse
  • Nov. 14: vs. Georgia Tech
  • Nov. 20 (Fri.): at Duke
  • Nov. 28: vs. South Carolina

Week 13: South Carolina (4-8, 1-7 SEC)

As usual, Clemson will conclude its regular season against rival South Carolina. This year, the Gamecocks will visit Death Valley, where they have beaten the Tigers in each of their last two trips to Clemson. The road team has actually won four straight in the series.

Last season did not go quite as expected for the Gamecocks. Similar to Clemson, South Carolina entered the season with College Football Playoff aspirations, but instead, settled for something far less.

It was the kind of year that has many believing Shane Beamer could be on the hot seat entering his sixth season leading the program. South Carolina had the SEC’s next-to-worst offense and only scored 30 points or more three times. One of those instances came against SC State.

LaNorris Sellers, who came into the season as a Heisman contender, experienced his share of struggles under offensive coordinator Mike Shula. Shula was eventually fired in November, and Kendal Briles has been brought in to replace him, with the hope being that he can help return Sellers to the form seen during the 2024 season.

If this team is going to improve offensively, it has to start up front along the offensive line, and Beamer hit the portal hard to make sure the team was improved dramatically in that area. Hank Purvis (Purdue), Carter Miller (UCF), Emmanuel Poku (ECU) and Ebubedike Nnabugwu (Missouri State) were all added along the interior. Dayen Arnett (Ferris State), Seth Smith (N. Arizona) and Armando Nieves (New Mexico State) were all added at tackle. Tackle Jacarrius Peak (NC State) is arguably the biggest addition here. Two more transfer linemen were added during the summer.

Unfortunately, the season is still a month away, and the bad luck has already begun. Starting tackle Josiah Thompson is out for the season with an injury. Peak injured a knee playing basketball. While the word is he should be ready by the start of the season, there are no guarantees there. If he is limited or can not go for a period of time, that is a big blow, seeing as he’s the headliner of the portal offensive linemen.

As things stand, the projected starting five is Peak at left tackle, Purvis at left guard, Miller at center, Poku at right guard, and returning player Shed Sarratt at right tackle. In 3,264 combined snaps last season, those players allowed six sacks, nine quarterback hits, 45 quarterback hurries, 60 quarterback pressures and 19 penalties. So, on paper, this group looks to be much improved.

That brings us to the running game, which, with Briles running things, Sellers should be a big part of that. The team went 4-2 last season when they ran for 115 yards or more, and went 0-5 when they didn’t. Leading rusher Rahsul Faison is gone, so Matt Fuller is expected to take on a much larger role after rushing for 250 yards last season. No matter who is leading the charge, South Carolina has to have more success on the ground.

Nyck Harbor is back at wideout after averaging 17.5 yards per catch over his first three seasons. Jayden Sellers, the younger brother of LaNorris, is also back. He was third on the team in receiving last season. Mazeo Bennett is back, as well. Donovan Murph and Jordon Gidron both enter their second seasons. Brady Hunt and Mike Tyler lead the tight end room.

The defense loses star corner Jalon Kilgore, but the pass defense should be fine as long as the defensive front does its part. Dylan Stewart, considered one of the best pass rushers in the country when healthy, returns after an injury-plagued 2025 campaign. Defensive tackle Tomiwa Durojaiye transferred in from Illinois, and defensive end Caleb Herring comes over from Tennessee. Kelby Collins, who comes over after a season at Alabama, should also help provide a boost on the interior. But it’s fifth-year player Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy who is expected to anchor the interior. On paper, this is a pretty stout defensive front.

Veterans Justin Okoronkwo and Fred “JayR” Johnson lead the way at linebacker, and both are really solid players who could thrive in this defense.

This is a big season for Beamer and the Gamecocks. On paper, this looks like a solid bunch, but the same was said a year ago. Beamer made a lot of changes to his staff to ensure the team sees some improvements. Now we see whether those moves were the right ones.