Swinney’s voice irritation level dropped for the above question, but the needles pointed up again when he was asked if his players might overlook SC while thinking ahead to North Carolina in the ACC Championship game. Yet, one key thing I have learned about this rivalry is that most times it’s highly competitive regardless of circumstances.
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“If you have skilled bigs that play hard, that’s a tough matchup for anybody”, said Alexander. After winning a second straight Capital Bowl, he said winning the state championship game was nice too. Quarterback Deshaun Watson has a talented receiving squad, with the likes of Artavius Scott, who has 74 receptions and four scores to his name. Looking like the version of itself many expected the entire season, No. 8 Ohio State thumped No. 10 MI 42-13 at the Big House. But if we’re parsing the performance with an eye toward the ACC title game and a potential playoff berth, the Tigers showed some flaws.
Just a year ago, Clemson had clocks counting down to the kickoff against SC.
Watson, who is 15-1 as a starter over the past two seasons, is eager for his second meeting against SC, which has struggled to a 3-8 season.
The Tigers quickly answered when Easley’s C.J. Fuller rushed for Clemson’s second touchdown of the quarter building the Tigers’ lead back to 18 points. The Tigers and Gamecocks played a scoreless first quarter in Columbia. Part of me wants to believe these Gamecocks can fight to the end like the A&M, Tennessee, and Florida games, but I wouldn’t put money on it. On a potentially positive note, Chris Clark points out here that Clemson hasn’t exactly blown out inferior opponents, beating Syracuse and Wake Forest by a combined 30 points.
“It makes it a little bit easier”, Gamecocks interim head coach Shawn Elliott said. The Gamecocks got two scoring strikes from Perry Orth, the first to former Chapman High star Deebo Samuel that covered 7 yards followed by a 57-yarder to a wide open Pharoh Cooper, who announced earlier this week that he would skip his final season to enter the National Football League draft. “I’m still approaching it like I have a shot and in the back of my mind I’m going to tell myself, until they tell me at the very end that I don’t”, said Elliott. Watson then gave “dab” to the SC student section and retired to the bench with a 7-0 lead. That has not equaled success at the betting window, however, as they Tigers have gone just 3-4 against the spread in those previous seven wins.
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This was the Tigers first win at Williams-Brice Stadium since 2007 and just the third victory in eight tries for Swinney against the Gamecocks.
