The Tigers have strung together 3 straight wins in, arguably, their toughest stretch of the season and now rivalry week is here vs the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Our feathered friends in the midlands are having a tough season, yet have some players who are having great seasons, if that makes sense.
This game should be a fun one. The trash talk has already started on social media, and the vitriol between the two fan bases is at an all-time high.
Here is a look at everything you will need to know about the Tiger’s Week 13 Opponent:
South Carolina Gamecocks
School Location: Columbia, South Carolina
Time: 7:30 SEC Network
2023 Record – 5-6; (3-5 SEC) Last Game: Win vs. Kentucky 17-14
5 Wins against: Furman, Mississippi State, Jacksonville State, Vanderbilt, Kentucky
6 Losses against: North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Missouri, Texas A&M
Head Coach: Shane Beamer – 3rd Season – 19-17 Overall – Previous: Oklahoma Asst. Head Coach
Coach Beamer, in his third season in Columbia has the fan base wrapped around his finger. They love him there, he’s recruiting hard, he’s coaching hard and he reminds Clemson fans of Dabo Swinney a little bit. His players love him and he is trying hard to build something there in the state capital. The son of a legendary college football head coach who came up through the ranks with stints at Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Georgia and Oklahoma before landing his first head coaching job at South Carolina.
Offense
Offensive Coordinator: Dowel Loggains – 1st year – Previous: Arkansas TE Coach
Coach Loggains enters his first year at South Carolina replacing the often scrutinized Marcus Satterfield. Loggains inherited Spencer Rattler, Juice Wells and Xavier Legette and not much else on the offensive side of the ball. He’s been charged to change the offense to something that fits the talent on the roster. With a bunch of injuries, notably to Wells, and others, he’s struggled in year one. However, because of career years from Rattler and Legette, some of that is masked. He will have to get some OL help going forward to make this offense a true power.
South Carolina is averaging 27.7 points per game (T-64th nationally) with 87.6 yards per game rushing (126th nationally) and 293.1 through the air (15th nationally) for an average of 380.7 yards of offense through 11 games, good enough for 68th nationally in total offense.
Here is a look at the projected starters for the South Carolina Gamecocks as well as their 2023 statistics:
| Quarterback | Spencer Rattler | RS Senior | #7 | 90 rush, 88 yds net, 4 TDs | 259-367 70%, 3074 yds, 19 TDs, 7 Ints |
| Running Back | Mario Anderson (Newberry) | RS Senior | #24 | 130 rush, 672 yds, 3 TDs | 19 rec. 151 yds, TD |
| Wide Receiver | Nyck Harbor | Freshman | #8 | 2 rush, 10 yds | 12 rec, 195 yds, TD |
| Wide Receiver | Ahmarean Brown (Georgia Tech) | RS Senior | #10 | 2 rush, 1 yd | 25 rec, 256 yds, TD |
| Wide Receiver | Xavier Legette | RS Senior | #17 | 8 rush, -8 yds | 65 rec, 1187 yds, 7 TDs |
| Tight End | Trey Knox | RS Senior | #1 | 36 rec. 312 yds, 2 TDs | |
| Left Tackle | Tree Babalade | Freshman | #51 | ||
| Left Guard | Jakai Moore | RS Senior | #55 | ||
| Center | Nick Gargiulo (Yale) | Graduate | #69 | ||
| Right Guard | Trovon Baugh | Freshman | #78 | ||
| Right Tackle | Vershon Lee | RS Junior | #53 |
Defense
Defensive Coordinator: Clayton White – 3rd Year – Previous: Western Kentucky DC
Coach White came in with Coach Beamer three seasons ago and has had a steadily decent defense the entirety of his stint. White runs more of a 3-4 hybrid style of defense utilizing a Nickleback in a true hybrid linebacker/rover/safety.
The South Carolina defense has given up an average of 27.3 points through their first ten games (T-78th nationally). They have given up an average of 143.1 yards per game on the ground (50th nationally) and 259.5 yards through the air (116th nationally). Opponents are averaging a total of 402.6 yards per game (96th nationally).
Turnovers
The Gamecocks are +5 in turnover margin through eleven games (T-23rd nationally), having thrown 7 interceptions and picking off 9 opposing passes, as well as having caused 7 fumbles and have lost 4 fumbles in the eleven games so far.
Here is a look at the projected starters for the Gamecocks on defense along with some stats from the season:
| Defensive End | Bryan Thomas Jr. | Sophomore | #46 | 22 tackles, 2 TFLs, sack |
| Defensive Tackle | Tonka Hemingway | Senior | #91 | 31 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, 1.5 sacks, 2 FRs |
| Defensive Tackle | Alex Huntley | RS Junior | #95 | 29 tackles, 4 TFLs, 2 sacks, FR |
| Oustide Linebacker | Jordan Strachan (Georgia State) | Graduate | #7 | 19 tackles, 7 TFLs, 4 sacks |
| Middle Linebacker | Stone Blanton | Sophomore | #52 | 46 tackles, TFL, sack, Int, TD |
| Weakside Linebacker | Debo Williams | RS Junior | #0 | 102 tackles, 9 TFLs, sack, FR |
| Cornerback | O’Donnell Fortune | RS Junior | #3 | 33 tackles, 2 Ints |
| Strong Safety | Nick Emmanwori | Sophomore | #21 | 64 tackles, Int |
| Free Safety | DQ Smith | Sophomore | #1 | 66 tackles, 1.5 TFLs, sack, Int, FR |
| Nickleback | Jalon Kilgore | Freshman | #24 | 74 tackles, 1.5 TFLs, Int |
| Cornerback | Marcellas Dial (Georgia Military College) | RS Senior | #6 | 34 tackles, TFL, sack |
Special Teams
Here is a list of the specialists for the Gamecocks along with statistics from the season so far:
| Kicker | Mitch Jeter | Senior | #98 | 12-14, long of 51 yds |
| Punter | Kai Kroger | Senior | #39 | 54 punts, 43.3 yd avg, long of 60 yds |
| Punt Returner | Jalon Kilgore | Freshman | #24 | 6 returns, 6.7 yd avg, long of 15 yds |
| Kick Returner | Xavier Legette | RS Senior | #17 | 9 returns, 19.2 yd avg, long of 28 yds |
Summary
Spencer Rattler is having, arguably his best season of his career, and wide receiver Xavier Legette has thrust himself into early round NFL draft boards across that league. Outside of those two pieces, the Gamecocks have really struggled this season, with their best win coming against Kentucky a week ago.
Clemson has been hitting its stride late in the season with three straight victories at home. Crazy things happen in rivalry games, none more so than last year’s surprising and disappointing 31-30 loss to our feathered friends in the midlands ruining an otherwise good year for the Tigers.
Here’s to hoping the Tigers right the ship in the rivalry game, and take back what has lived in Clemson, South Carolina for the better part of a century.
