On the next possession, Watson hooked up with Deon Cain for a 55-yard touchdown pass to take control of the game.
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When you are 13th in the SEC in total defense (90th nationally), allowing 422.1 yards per game, and just gave up 350 rushing yards to a FCS school, how do you stop an offense that has gained at least 500 yards total yards in each of the last seven games?
It’s rivalry week – and in the state of SC, perhaps nobody is more excited than Clemson Tigers fans as they watch their squad sit atop the College Football Rankings yet again in this week’s edition. During their four-game losing streak, the Gamecocks have fallen by less than 10 points – three of their losses coming by just a score. But it’s going to take consistent efforts from Watson to help Clemson get to their 15th game of the year. He added 30 and 3-yard touchdown runs in the second half.
SC placed six players in double figures including Laimonas Chatkevicius, who scored 17 points on 7-of-7 shooting from the floor and a 3-for-3 afternoon at the line.
The Clemson Tigers have established themselves as arguably the best team in the country. The bad news: They have to finish it at home against the No. 1 Clemson Tigers in a stadium that will likely have as much orange as garnet in it. Carolina will show some fight early in its Super Bowl, but once they fall behind by more than a touchdown or so, things should fall apart very quickly. Rivalry games are odd ducks.
The Gamecocks trimmed the Tigers lead late in the second quarter when SC kicker Elliott Fry striped a chip shot field goal to get USC on the board. Well, they most certainly do. They also have a group of wide receivers so deep they absorbed the loss of superstar Mike Williams to a neck injury the first game of the season.
There’s C.J. Fuller, inserted in the game when Gallman was cramping, and a true freshman scoring his first career touchdown in the third quarter. Logan scored on runs of 42 and 40 yards, and Hood had a 39-yard run of his own before scoring from a yard out in a 35-point spreed for the Tar Heels (11-1, 8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 14 CFP). He moved ahead of Jim Stuckey and Trevor Pryce (20 TFLs) for the 10th-most in a season in Clemson history.
SC answered with its first touchdown of the game.
The Tigers fumbled three times as their 18-point lead was cut to 28-25 with 12:19 left on Shon Carson’s 1-yard touchdown run and Lorenzo Nunez’s 2-point conversion.
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Center Jay Guillermo thinks SC will regroup, saving its best for its final game of the season. The sophomore quarterback would score the difference maker to end a 10-play drive with 8:05 to go from three yards out.
