Trends Of The Game: South Carolina Vs. Clemson

South Carolina's Football team had continued success on defense, but another sluggish offensive performance held them back in their loss to Clemson.

On Saturday night, Shane Beamer's South Carolina Gamecocks fell short of their bowl eligibility goals in a 16-7 loss to their archrivals, the Clemson Tigers. While one side of the ball continued to carry over the progression displayed in recent performances, the miscues of one particular group led to the Gamecocks' eventual downfall in this matchup. What trends did we see from Carolina's offense and defense in week thirteen?

Offense

Unfortunately, the Gamecocks struggled against Clemson much like they did against Kentucky. The unit had two yards combined in the second and third quarters. They tried everything, from screens to drags and slants. They ran it up the middle and to the edge but could never establish consistency.

Mario Anderson Jr. trying to outrun Clemson safety Khalil Barnes to the edge (25th Nov., 2023) / Ken Ruinard | USA Today Network

Miscues led to a majority of Clemson's success. The backward lateral recovered for a touchdown, lack of overall execution and inability to move the ball constantly gave Clemson a short field to work with. Drops also continued to be an issue for this team. Shane Beamer said they knew coming in that the guys would have to make contested catches tonight, but they just didn't.

Defense

Defensively, this team did everything and more than you could have asked for. If you were told the defense wouldn't allow a single offensive touchdown, you would assume that the Gamecocks walked away with a win. They would force a turnover in the endzone and get all the stops this team needed to succeed.

They stayed in their three-down lineman packages for most of the night, and while Clemson's offense had some success running the ball, they never crossed the goal line. Outside of one explosive play in the air, the secondary also played exceptionally well. They didn't give Cade Klubnik any time to throw comfortably. However, he was able to use his legs and create big plays that extended some drives.

While this team's season ends, some key players can still return next season and some will. Building off the defense's success from the final games and learning from the ups and the downs for first-year offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains will be the next step for this program. Shane Beamer and company will have a busy off-season, starting with recruiting the transfer portal and finishing the 2024 high school recruiting cycle on a high note.

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