C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
South Carolina lost 30-0 to Clemson Saturday night, dropping them to 6-6 on the year.
The lead
While South Carolina certainly performed better than expected this season, Saturday was a humbling reminder of the strides it still needs to take in order to get over the hump.
Clemson, even in a year marred by injuries and offensive struggles, still was able to have its way and it’s in large part because the Gamecocks need more depth and a better stable of players. That comes in recruiting and building a team. Was it all on needing more depth to compete? No, but it certainly would have helped.
This is an obviously frustrating loss for fans given how emotional last week was and the best opportunity to beat Clemson for the last seven or so years since the streak began. South Carolina turned in a dud offensively and it put a ton of pressure on South Carolina defensively to be perfect, which it wasn’t.
It’s hard to pin all of this on the defense, which wasn’t great but serviceable after some early struggles. When a team is getting nothing on offense and the opponent runs 13 more plays through three quarters it's hard on a defense.
Something has to change offensively before the bowl game if the Gamecocks want to maintain any form of consistency in the success they had against Florida and at times against Auburn. The same problems keep cropping up, which is something that falls directly on the coaching staff and a team that looked out-manned from the jump Saturday night.
Keys to the loss
Every bit of the Gamecocks’ offense—It would be easy to pin it on play calling, the game plan, the offensive line, quarterback play or skill positions but in reality it was all of the above. Anytime you put up 75 yards and no points in the first half, have to wait an entire quarter for a first down and finish with no points in this rivalry for the first time since 1989, it falls on the entire offense. South Carolina didn’t do enough to adjust offensively, couldn’t stop Clemson from getting pressure, couldn’t run the ball and Jason Brown had arguably his worst game of the season and Zeb Noland wasn’t any better. Drops, which haven’t been an issue all season, came back up again against Clemson.
Run defense—South Carolina’s run defense had been suspect all season and for portions of the last two weeks and those issues came to a head again against Clemson. The Tigers’ first two touchdowns were explosive runs and they’d finish averaging 6/2 yards per carry. Will Shipley averaged 6.7 while Kobe Pace popped off at 8.3 yards per attempt.
Critical areas leading to success—Typically, if a team is going to win it’s going to do it playing well on third down, in the red zone and create some big plays. South Carolina was bad on third down offensively and good defensively—4-for-16 on offense, 3-for-12 for Clemson—and didn’t have a red zone trip until late in the game. The Gamecocks had just four passes for at least 15 yards and their longest run was for 12 yards on the final play of the game. Clemson was 1-for-1 in the red zone and had six runs of 10-plus yards and two passes of 15-plus.
Key stats
12 first downs—South Carolina couldn’t move the ball, which meant it couldn’t stay on the field to score points and also meant the defense was going to be out on the field for a long time. When that happens, it typically leads to a long night.
6.2 yards per carry against—Clemson ran it down South Carolina’s throat at will for large portions of the game, and it kept the defense on the field and the chains moving.
7.6 yards to go on third down—South Carolina was anemic on first and second down and put in tough positions against a good Clemson pass rush on third down and was one of the reasons why South Carolina was so bad offensively.
Final thoughts
There is an understanding of how frustrated fans are and should be after tonight. Something definitely needs to change offensively from a play calling, game plan standpoint and execution standpoint across the board.
The Gamecocks could have used this game as a springboard into a bowl and further but failed to capitalize on any momentum from last week, which is insanely frustrating to not only the fans but the coaching staff and probably every player in that locker room.
That being said, this is a program projected to win 3.5 games at the beginning of the year going bowling. There is some solace in that.
The lead
While South Carolina certainly performed better than expected this season, Saturday was a humbling reminder of the strides it still needs to take in order to get over the hump.
Clemson, even in a year marred by injuries and offensive struggles, still was able to have its way and it’s in large part because the Gamecocks need more depth and a better stable of players. That comes in recruiting and building a team. Was it all on needing more depth to compete? No, but it certainly would have helped.
This is an obviously frustrating loss for fans given how emotional last week was and the best opportunity to beat Clemson for the last seven or so years since the streak began. South Carolina turned in a dud offensively and it put a ton of pressure on South Carolina defensively to be perfect, which it wasn’t.
It’s hard to pin all of this on the defense, which wasn’t great but serviceable after some early struggles. When a team is getting nothing on offense and the opponent runs 13 more plays through three quarters it's hard on a defense.
Something has to change offensively before the bowl game if the Gamecocks want to maintain any form of consistency in the success they had against Florida and at times against Auburn. The same problems keep cropping up, which is something that falls directly on the coaching staff and a team that looked out-manned from the jump Saturday night.
Keys to the loss
Every bit of the Gamecocks’ offense—It would be easy to pin it on play calling, the game plan, the offensive line, quarterback play or skill positions but in reality it was all of the above. Anytime you put up 75 yards and no points in the first half, have to wait an entire quarter for a first down and finish with no points in this rivalry for the first time since 1989, it falls on the entire offense. South Carolina didn’t do enough to adjust offensively, couldn’t stop Clemson from getting pressure, couldn’t run the ball and Jason Brown had arguably his worst game of the season and Zeb Noland wasn’t any better. Drops, which haven’t been an issue all season, came back up again against Clemson.
Run defense—South Carolina’s run defense had been suspect all season and for portions of the last two weeks and those issues came to a head again against Clemson. The Tigers’ first two touchdowns were explosive runs and they’d finish averaging 6/2 yards per carry. Will Shipley averaged 6.7 while Kobe Pace popped off at 8.3 yards per attempt.
Critical areas leading to success—Typically, if a team is going to win it’s going to do it playing well on third down, in the red zone and create some big plays. South Carolina was bad on third down offensively and good defensively—4-for-16 on offense, 3-for-12 for Clemson—and didn’t have a red zone trip until late in the game. The Gamecocks had just four passes for at least 15 yards and their longest run was for 12 yards on the final play of the game. Clemson was 1-for-1 in the red zone and had six runs of 10-plus yards and two passes of 15-plus.
Key stats
12 first downs—South Carolina couldn’t move the ball, which meant it couldn’t stay on the field to score points and also meant the defense was going to be out on the field for a long time. When that happens, it typically leads to a long night.
6.2 yards per carry against—Clemson ran it down South Carolina’s throat at will for large portions of the game, and it kept the defense on the field and the chains moving.
7.6 yards to go on third down—South Carolina was anemic on first and second down and put in tough positions against a good Clemson pass rush on third down and was one of the reasons why South Carolina was so bad offensively.
Final thoughts
There is an understanding of how frustrated fans are and should be after tonight. Something definitely needs to change offensively from a play calling, game plan standpoint and execution standpoint across the board.
The Gamecocks could have used this game as a springboard into a bowl and further but failed to capitalize on any momentum from last week, which is insanely frustrating to not only the fans but the coaching staff and probably every player in that locker room.
That being said, this is a program projected to win 3.5 games at the beginning of the year going bowling. There is some solace in that.
