Battle for the Hardee's Trophy

Precursor: I'm sorry guys, it is just so hard for me to write about this game. My brain is just frazzled and I can't focus on anything so I know this blog is kind of all over the place. I'm so excited. I do hope I gave you guys some good information though. I hope you all have a good weekend, and if you head up to the game I hope you stay warm, safe, and have a great time.

It's Rivalry Week. One of the best weekends of the year in college football. Michigan-Ohio State, Oregon State-Oregon, Florida-Florida State, Alabama-Auburn, etc., and of course the one that means the most in my home state, Clemson vs. South Carolina. I've tried to stay somewhat reserved this week, getting too jacked up probably wouldn't have gone over too well with Thanksgiving and family coming into town, but man oh man this is a big game. I mean, this is the first time ever both teams have been ranked in the top-10 when they meet. The Gamecocks have won 17 straight at home. Connor Shaw has NEVER lost a game he started in Williams-Brice Stadium. The Tigers are playing for a spot in a BCS game. The past two years, I've felt supremely confident that Clemson was going to beat South Carolina, and everyone knows how that ended up. This season, I don't feel as confident in the Tigers, maybe that's a good sign for Clemson, maybe it's a good sign for the Gamecocks, who knows? It's gonna be a hell of a ballgame. Two top-ten teams, why wouldn't it be? The Vegas power polls have these two teams very close as well. I've seen them at 5 & 7, 6 & 10, 12 & 15, and 10 & 12. About a month ago, I thought that USC was going to win for sure. But now, slowly but surely, I've started to feel a little better about Clemson's chances.

The Breakdown

•               The key to this game comes down to the line of scrimmage, and whether or not Clemson can block South Carolina's front seven. The past few years, the Gamecocks have dominated up front. The Tigers seem to be better prepared to hold their own this season, however. The insertion of Isaiah Battle into the starting lineup the past two games has made a huge difference and really improved the right side of the O-Line, especially at right tackle. Battle has the potential to be a an NFL tackle one day and he'll have to play very well this weekend. He will have his hands full with Chaz Sutton, and I also believe the 'Cocks will move Jadeveon Clowney to that side to give him some snaps against Battle. Clowney dominated the game last season, totaling 4.5 sacks. Brandon Thomas will have to be on his game to somewhat contain No. 7. The guy on the SC D-line who really scares me however, is Kelcy Quarles at defensive tackle. He has had a great season and is a big player in the middle of the line. Last season, the Tigers tried to single block Clowney way too often, and I expect them to give Thomas some more help this season and chip him some with a TE, H-Back, or RB. Stanton Seckinger, Sam Cooper, Darrell Smith, and Roderick McDowell have to be up to the task. The Tigers have to run the ball effectively with quarterback Tajh Boyd, and call more designed runs for him. Clemson also has to utilize the screen game to the running backs and the tight ends. These two things will help contain the USC pass rush.

•               Clemson's offense has been somewhat vanilla since the Georgia game. In their other big game, Florida State, they were out of it before they had the chance to roll any new wrinkles out there. The Tigers have pretty much blown everyone else out, so they haven't need to break out a whole lot of new stuff. I expect they have some new things to throw at South Carolina this Saturday night.

•               One of these wrinkles could be Sammy Watkins running some wildcat. It was rumored that Clemson worked on it a lot the week before FSU, but got behind so quickly they never broke it out. 

•               Clemson has to run the ball effectively, and stick with it. A year ago, offensive coordinator Chad Morris went away from the run way too early, and it allowed the South Carolina defensive line to pin their ears back and go after Boyd.

•               Keeping Tajh upright is huge. If he can have time, he will be able to complete passes downfield on what I feel is a not a great secondary for the Gamecocks. Hampton is solid, but who knows how healthy Brison Williams will be and the other safety Chaz Elder is a freshman. With the emergence of Martavis Bryant over the last few games, teams won't be able to focus on Sammy Watkins as much. Watkins is due for a big game against the Gamecocks by the way, only totaling eight catches for 76 yards in his two career games against his rival. Both of these guys have the ability to have big games, and the Tigers will need them to do so.

•               Defensively, Clemson is much improved from a year ago. I think the question of how South Carolina will block Clemson is just as important as the other way around. Vic Beasley, Grady Jarrett and crew have had a great season pressuring the quarterback, and they have over 100 tackles for loss. 

•               Clemson has to stop Mike Davis, have to. If he gets going, it will be a long night. They have shown the ability to do so though, as they contained 2,000-yard rusher Andre Williams to just 70-something yards. 

•               Two years ago, Connor Shaw killed the Tigers with his legs. He doesn't run as well as he used to, and the Clemson defense has improved against mobile quarterbacks.

•               The Tigers have to get off the field on third down. They're one of the best in the country (3rd, I believe) doing so this season, and they have to be able to do that and get their offense back on the field.

•               TE Busta Anderson is a baller for SC. He's tall and fast, and the Tigers have to make sure they have someone on him at all times.

•               Also, I totally expect Spurrier to call one of those play-action deep passes on the first drive of the game to either Shaq Roland or Damiere Byrd.

THE Game Prediction

Five years. Five longgggg years. Four in a row for the first time ever. South Carolina expects to win, and quite frankly I'm not sure if their players respect Clemson. 

“I can tell Tajh Boyd is scared back there. He ain’t no sitting duck, but you can see it in his eyes. He’s scared of our D line. We know that, coming into the game, we’ve got him shook already. Just get a couple hits on him, and it changes the whole game. He’s scared every time we play him.” - Jadeveon Clowney stated during SEC Media Days this summer. 

"@TajhB10 u kno u have never completed a pass on me are u gone change tht this yr?" - Victor Hampton tweeted at Tajh Boyd this past June. Tajh is pissed. Dabo Swinney is especially pissed. My sources tell me that Dabo was VERY pissed last year when D.J. Swearinger yelled/pointed at him on the sideline during the game. Dabo devoted extra film time to this game this past summer, and he will have this team ready to play. The key is for them to not be too uptight.  

However, this attitude doesn't just extend to South Carolina players. Their fans' thoughts on the game have totally changed. I was sitting at my little brother's basketball game the other night, and their were some young kids sitting a couple of rows in front of me. They were maybe 10-12 years old. An old man beside me leaned down and asked them who was going to win this weekend. Without hesitation, they said "the Gamecocks of course, Clemson's no good." This really hit home to me. All these kids know of is South Carolina winning four in a row over Clemson. I mean, they may not have even been born for 63-17! They don't realize they're down 65-41-4 in the all-time series, they use to lose all the time. We have to change that mentality back. Like my dad said to me a month or so ago, "I'm 55 years old, I've never had to put up with this. I've never seen them win four in a row, hell, barely even three in a row." My dad's tired of it. I'm tired of it. Clemson fans everyone are tired of it. Dabo's tired of it. Tajh is tired of it. Sammy is tired of it. The whole team is tired of it. 

South Carolina is just not as good as they have been the past few years. Their depth on defense isn't as vast as it has been, and the Tigers are going to take advantage. The offensive line will come to play. Watkins and Bryant have huge games. Vic Beasley goes off. Tajh Boyd has a game that cements him as the best quarterback in Tiger history, and gets his jersey retired. It's time to make the world right again and change things back to how they're supposed to be. We get another tombstone. The streak ends Saturday.

Clemson - 31

South Carolina - 24

It's about damn time.

Follow me on twitter @K_Mart10