Clemson’s Offense vs South Carolina’s Defense
Whether Deshaun Watson plays or not will go a long way in determining who wins Saturday. The Tiger offense has struggled without him. If he plays the offense should click. If not, this game could turn into a low scoring battle. Watson is good at throwing the ball downfield and with a Gamecock secondary that has struggled it will be a huge advantage. Without him the Tiger run game will need to be good.
Skai Moore and Brison Williams have led the SC defense all year. Moore leads the team in tackles while Brison Williams leads the team with 4 interceptions. Accounting for these 2 will lead to success for Clemson. With only 12 total sacks for the year, this game will be an opportunity for the Tiger offensive line to prove it can hold up. Protecting Watson will be vital. Also, creating running lanes for Tyshon Dye, Wayne Gallman and others to run will make Clemson hard to stop.
South Carolina’s Offense vs Clemson’s Defense
This will be a matchup of strength versus strength. The SC offense has been able to consistently put points on the board. Mike Davis and Brandon Wilds have been great running the ball. The Clemson Dline will need to be good to stop them both. Grady Jarrett’s performance will be critical in this game.
In the passing game Pharoh Cooper has been the man. He is just under 1000 yards receiving. He is a great athlete. The Gamecocks also use Cooper in the wildcat. Not only is he a run threat but he can throw well too. The secondary will need to be well prepared. The Dline’s ability to pressure Dylan Thompson will be vital. He has 11 interceptions on the year and pressure could increase that number.
Special Teams
Special teams could be a factor in this game. The Cocks have given up 2 punt return touchdowns this season so there will be opportunity for the Tigers to have big returns. Also, Pinion has been good punting and Lakip has been a good placekicker. This should give Clemson the advantage on special teams.
X-factor
It looks like Deshaun Watson will play. If he does that gives the Tigers’ offense an immediate boost. If he doesn’t play the offense could struggle even against a poor Gamecock defense. Watson’s ability to move in the pocket enabling him to throw the ball downfield will be huge. He is the difference-maker.
Prediction
This game almost needs 2 predictions. The first part of the prediction is predicting he will play and will be effective. Regardless, this will be a close battle. This features matchups of weakness versus weakness, when Clemson has the ball, and strength versus strength, when South Carolina has the ball. The Tiger front 7 should be able to slow down the SC offense enough for them to win comfortable. Clemson wins 34-23.
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