GAMECOCKFANATICS OFFICIAL PREVIEW & PREDICTION THREAD: USC Gamecocks vs Clemson Tigers

[ConwayGamecock]

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GAMECOCKFANATICS OFFICIAL PREVIEW & PREDICTION THREAD:​

South Carolina Gamecocks vs Clemson Tigers​

Who:       South Carolina Gamecocks (4-7, 3-5 SEC) vs Clemson Tigers (11-0, 8-0 ACC)

When:     Saturday November 30, 2019

Kick-off: 12:00 pm ET

Where:    Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC

TV:           ESPN

The Gamecocks close out the 2019 season hosting their bitter in-state rival Clemson Tigers this Saturday in Williams-Brice Stadium: the game is a scheduled noon kick-off, and will be broadcast on ESPN.

The Coaches

USC Gamecocks

Head Coach: Will Muschamp (age 48), 4th year, 26-24 (54-45 as Head Coach - 8th year)

Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers: Bryan McClendon

Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs: Travaris Robinson

Quarterbacks: Dan Werner

Running Backs: Thomas Brown

Offensive Line: Eric Wolford

Tight Ends: Bobby Bentley

Defensive Line: John Scott Jr.

Special Teams/Linebackers: Coleman Hutzler

Special Teams/Nickel Backs/Sam Linebackers: Kyle Krantz

Outside Linebackers: Mike Peterson

Clemson Tigers

Head Coach: Dabo Swinney (age 50), 12th year, 127-30

Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers: Brent Venables

Co-Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers: Jeff Scott

Co-Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs: Tony Elliott

Defensive Line: Todd Bates

Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends: Danny Pearman

Recruiting Coordinator/Quarterbacks: Brandon Streeter

Offensive Line: Robbie Caldwell

Cornerbacks: Mike Reed

Safeties: Mickey Conn

Defensive Ends: Lemanski Hall

The Series Match-up

The Gamecocks and the Tigers have played a total of 116 games dating back to 1896. Clemson holds a solid lead in the series 70-42-4, and will be looking to extend their current win streak over South Carolina to 6 wins, the longest such streak since their series-record 7 consecutive wins, from 1934 through 1940.

Key Match-ups For The Game

The most key match-up I would assume, would be between South Carolina’s offense and Clemson’s defense: mostly because the Gamecock’s offense has been sputtering of late, they will be without their top receiver Bryan Edwards who is out with an ACL injury, and are bringing their top running back – Clemson transfer Tavien Feaster – back from injury himself; while Clemson’s own defense has been one of the better defenses in CFB this season.

Not to be out-done, would be the match-up of Clemson’s offense – among the top 5 in the nation in scoring and total offenses – against South Carolina’s defense, which has fought hard, but has also struggled in the bottom half of the SEC in most categories.

South Carolina Will Win If

Not really sure what “IF” exists out there: last season we had one of the better offensive showings in the series’ history, and still lost by three scores. I do not think our offense will come close to last season’s effort. Sure, we had a bye week to prepare the team for the game, but our staff has not exactly shown themselves to masters at team preparation during their time in Columbia, and Clemson also had a bye week last week as well.

Clemson Will Win If

I expect the game atmosphere to be decidedly pro-Clemson in terms of fan engagement and on-field execution and productivity. My only hope will be to see if South Carolina can contain Clemson enough to prevent an all-time series scoring record.

Gamecock Fanatics Prediction

Clemson 52, South Carolina 20
 

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[FeatheredCock]

I am going out on a limb here Gamecocks 24  Clemson 35. No I am not full blown crazy here. Taters win just closer than most think.

 

[FeatheredCock]

This whole meandering of a South Carolina football season lead to this. The Gamecocks are 26-point underdogs in what their coach, Will Muschamp, acknowledges is a very important game every season. Clemson comes in aiming for another playoff spot and a second undefeated regular season in a row.

It wasn’t so long ago the Gamecocks had five wins in a row in the series, frustrating some truly good Clemson teams. But that seems a long way off now. 

There simply isn’t much of a path for the Gamecocks to pull an upset against Dabo Swinney’s squad.

Carolinas simply hasn’t been very good for long stretches of this season. It struggled against Appalachian State. It struggled against Texas A&M. Clemson’s defense is in the top three nationally in yards per play and points allowed.

The Gamecocks defense can play well at times, although things came apart in late in its last game. If it were to be able to produce a day like it had against Georgia, South Carolina could hang close and have its defense do some of the scoring.

But even that afternoon, Carolina generated some good drives on offense and one long touchdown, both of which it hasn’t mounted of late.

It likely ends as a bitter pill, especially since Clemson can use any dominant win it can get its hands on. An upset would erase some of the bad feeling of the season, but it is exceedingly unlikely.

The pick: Clemson 65, South Carolina 10

 

[Mr Ed]

I am going out on a limb here Gamecocks 24  Clemson 35. No I am not full blown crazy here. Taters win just closer than most think.

I agree with this.  It’s impossible for me to see any way we could win barring something crazy.. like we suddenly can run the ball again and Clemson’s Oline shats themselves.  

But I think sometimes when teams come into a game with the motivation and expectation to destroy an opponent, which Clemson will for appearance sake, it backfires because they’ve not prepared mentally for an actual battle.  

I think of the scene from Rocky when Apollo is dancing around trying to put on a “show” for the fans only to get his ass knocked on the ground in the first round.  His trainer says of Rocky “ he doesn’t know it’s a damn show, he thinks it’s a damn fight.”  This is what I’m hoping for...Clemson ready for a show but finds itself in an unexpected fight.  Welcome to the SEC bitches. 

Go Cocks

 

[STS]

63-10 tigers...never close and we have no answer and after the game tanner and Caslen gives vote of confidence and nothing changes and Muschamp takes 9 months to look at tape without looking in the mirror...no changes and same results