#17 Tigers (9-2, 6-2 ACC) vs #12 Gamecocks (9-2, 6-2 SEC)
The Battle for the Palmetto State will be a spicy one this year, as both of the state’s FBS representative have fielded excellent squads.
Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia SC
Saturday, Nov. 26, 7:45 pm EST
NCAA Odds from Sportsbook.com:
MoneyLine: Clemson +165, S. Carolina -190
Spread: Clemson +4, S. Carolina -4
Over/Under: 49.5
Clemson usually recruits with the best of them but falls off this time of year; the Tigers are looking pretty good with a 9-2 record (though I felt more comfortable saying that before last weekend when they got stomped by a ho-hum NC State team). For its part, South Carolina is a strong team – a player in the SEC East division and one that has dealt with adversity. The 2011 match-up has the makings of a good one indeed.
Clemson can direct a great deal of its thanks this season to QB Tajh Boyd. The first-year starter has had an excellent campaign, his 3,255 yards and 27 TDs are good for tops in the ACC. A strong RB tandem – Andre Ellington and Mike Bellamy have combined for 1,195 yards and 12 scores – and a couple electric underclassmen wide receivers certainly have helped matters. The Tigers’ best WR, freshman Sammy Watkins, did not play in the NC State game with a shoulder ailment, but is listed as “Probable” this week and will almost surely go in this crucial vendetta game. Clemson has speed on defense, though the unit is not always as stout as it needs to be, as was evidenced by the 37-13 loss last week to NC State.
Conversely, the Gamecocks have had to persevere through the banishment of their starting QB (the troubled Stephen Garcia) and the season-ending injury of workhorse RB Marcus Lattimore. Junior WR and physical marvel Alshon Jeffery has figured less prominently in the offensive game-plan in recent weeks, though that might be because green QB Connor Shaw is slinging the ball instead of Garcia. Freshman RB Brandon Wilds has filled in decently for Lattimore; he’s not an X-factor like Lattimore but he is a solid option who can keep the chains moving.
Defensively, the stud player is do-it-all front seven guy Melvin Ingram. The surefire future NFLer has showcased talent at LB and every position on the defensive line at various times over the past couple seasons. Ultimately, he’s a special talent the Tigers must account for. The thing you most notice about the Gamecocks’ defense is that it’s improved considerably. The “D” surrendered 82 points in the season’s opening two weeks, yet now ranks 19th in the nation in points against, and that’s including a 44-28 loss to Arkansas. Yet it will absolutely be tested going up against a really explosive Clemson attack. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
This is a tough one to call because both teams should be able to make inroads against each other. Boyd has a good season under his belt thus far, but he will, fairly or unfairly, be strongly evaluated on his performance in this important game. Carolina and Clemson have hostilities that go back to before the Civil War, when Clemson was just an agricultural college. Though the Tigers lead the all-time series, the Gamecocks got the best of them last year, winning 29-7 in Death Valley. Clemson would love to take a victory home across the state and in doing so, put an exclamation point on a great season.
This should be a close one, but given Wilds running the ball in the run-heavy Carolina attack and Shaw’s relative inability to get the ball to Jeffery, I like Clemson to pull the upset. I predict Boyd will have a great game and the Tigers will want to prove that last week against the Wolfpack was a fluke.
I predict Clemson will steal a victory and silence the Williams-Brice Stadium faithful in another Palmetto State classic.
Score Prediction: Clemson 24, South Carolina 21 (OT)
Over/Under Prediction: 45
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