W
Wes Mitchell
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** For all of the improvements that South Carolina has made to its program in the two seasons under Will Muschamp, it was still apparent coming into Saturday's game that it was going to take a lot going Carolina's way for the Gamecocks to pull an upset. After watching the game live and re-watching it on DVR, it was pretty obvious to me that, as expected, there's still a large gap in talent between the two in-state programs in about every aspect of the game. Muschamp's answer that the Gamecocks have to go recruiting immediately was appropriate and it's still my belief, as I've said for some time, that they'll have to continue to recruit their way out of this.
** Not only did South Carolina not get the breaks they would have needed to make it a more competitive game, but many of the areas we pinpointed as keys for Carolina went completely against them. We talked about the turnover battle. Not only did the Gamecocks turn the football over twice, but one of those led directly to a Clemson touchdown. We talked about red zone play. Clemson scored touchdowns on all of its red zone trips. When Carolina tried to play the field position game, they were unable to down it inside the 10 on two occasions. Yet Clemson was able to turn around and force Carolina to start drives at the 1-yard-line and 6-yard-line, making it all the more difficult on a struggling offense.
** One lone positive for the Gamecocks' offense was that the offensive line at least held its own this year after giving the skill players literally no chance in the Clemson game last year. There were still protection issues at times as Jake Bentley was forced to rush throws against the stout Clemson front, but based on what that matchup looked like on paper, those guys held their own. There was actually more running room than I expected early in the game and TySon Williams ran hard with good vision.
Some of the tempo and shifts that Carolina used early in the game seemed to give Clemson issues, but the offense wasn't able to convert third downs and stay on the field and seemed to go away from those things as the game progressed. Clemson played a great deal of zone coverage early on and their speed and aggressiveness was apparent as the Clemson defenders closed on underneath routes and made tackles for small gains.
Carolina was never really able to attack the creases in Clemson's zone and when the Tigers played man coverage, the receiver struggled to create separation and Bentley struggled to complete passes. Call it an excuse or whatever you want, but this team desperately needs Deebo Samuel back on the field and it needs Rico Dowdle back out there too. Without either of those guys or Shi Smith on the field, Carolina had no skill players on offense that could threaten the Tigers secondary and Brent Venables did a great job of mixing coverages and keeping Carolina guessing pre-snap.
I thought Carolina had an early opportunity to create some momentum on the 4th and 1 when they lined up to try and get Clemson to jump offsides. The two defensive tackles were lined up over Carolina's offensive guards with no one over the center, which would have likely created a space for Bentley to quarterbacks sneak for the first down and possibly set the tone of the game. Hindsight is 20/20 and is probably would have made no difference in the game, but with an offense that struggled to stay on the field that was an opportunity to do so.
** South Carolina's defense didn't play up to Muschamp's standards but they were never going to be able to completely shut Clemson down and needed help from the offense which they obviously didn't get. That group played hard and fought to the final whistle despite also being outmatched by a very talented Clemson offense that can force a lot of missed tackles. Give credit to them, they have their system and they stick with it and don't ask Kelly Bryant to do anything he's not comfortable with. It's not complicated, but it works.
** I still haven't seen exactly what Rashad Fenton did on the personal foul call to extend a drive that would have otherwise been a defensive stop, but Muschamp was heated on the sideline with Fenton after and getting that penalty (unless it was just some completely terrible call) is inexcusable when down 27-0 to your rival. I felt like the game was probably already over at the half, but the first Clemson play of the third quarter plus the Fenton penalty were killers and took away any chance of making the game respectable.
** Keisean Nixon seems to have a knack for breaking to the football and I'd be interested in seeing him play more in the bowl game as experience for next year when he's definitely going to be needed as a starter.
** With one game left in his career, it's been a joy to watch Skai Moore's time at South Carolina. I'm not sure I've seen a guy at Carolina with better natural instincts to the football.
** Despite the loss to Clemson Saturday, South Carolina is still 8-4 with a Florida bowl on deck and a chance at nine wins. The program isn't perfect and there are corrections that need to be made. But at this point in the process, if Carolina fans only compare the program to what's going on in the upstate, then frankly there's going to be a lot of disappointment. An 8-4 (and possibly 9-4) record is something that the staff can sell to prospects this offseason and keep this thing headed in the right direction.
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