The Clemson football team took care of in-state rival South Carolina Saturday night in Death Valley with a 56-35 win over the Gamecocks.
The Clemson football team took care of business Saturday night. It wasn’t the prettiest performance. It wasn’t the game we all had hoped for. But, the Tigers got the win and improved to five-straight over the Gamecocks.
The Tigers improved to 12-0 on the regular season with a 56-35 win over South Carolina.
Analysis:
It was a tale of two sides.
The offensive side of the ball for Clemson football was lights out from the get-go. Trevor Lawrence finished the night 27-of-36 for 393 yards and a touchdown.
The Tigers combined for 351 yards on the ground, led by great performances from Travis Etienne (28 carries for 150 yards and two touchdowns) and Adam Choice (seven carries for 56 yards and three touchdowns).
Tavien Feaster also had a huge night, carrying the ball nine times for 63 yards and a touchdown.
Receiving-wise, Tee Higgins led the Tigers with six receptions for 142 yards and a touchdown. Hunter Renfrow also had five catches for 80 yards.
Even Christian Wilkins got in on the action, scoring on a toss sweep on 4th and Goal for the Tigers.
Defensively, though, things were as bad as we’ve seen them all season. The Tigers gave up 600 yards of total offense and allowed Jake Bentley to have a career day, throwing for 510 yards and five touchdowns to one interception.
The secondary was completely blistered all night. They were out of position and just torn to shreds by the Gamecock receiving corp.
Even with that being said, the Tigers won the game and that should be celebrated. It wasn’t the best performance of the season, for sure, but they got the job done and still won by more than 20 points.
What’s next?
Clemson will play the Pittsburgh Panthers next Saturday night at 8 p.m. in the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte.
The Tigers will be going for their fourth-straight ACC Championship and will be looking for revenge against a Pitt program that beat them at home two years ago back in 2016.