South Carolina Gamecocks report card: Clemson edition

Down go the Tigers!

Apparently South Carolina was not done playing spoiler for schools in the College Football Playoff hunt.

Just one week after a shocking blowout of Tennessee, the Gamecocks took down the previously eighth-ranked Clemson Tigers by the score of 31-30.

You can kiss Clemson’s seven-game Palmetto Bowl winning streak goodbye.

This win also makes Shane Beamer the first coach in Gamecock history with back-to-back victories over teams ranked in the top 10. Not bad for a coach in just his second season!

The best part? Anyone but a Clemson fan would agree this game probably should have been even more lopsided.

Darius Rush dropped a likely pick-six on South Carolina’s first defensive drive of the game, Spencer Rattler actually threw a pick-six during the team’s second drive to give Clemson seven free points, and don’t get me started on the backwards pass that wasn’t, which ended up not giving South Carolina what should have been seven points but actually gifted the Tigers two points from what ended up being a safety after Clemson punted the ball and pinned the Cocks deep in their own territory. A nine-point swing.

I know I’m only preaching to the choir here, but you be the judge.

Anyway, the Gamecocks played top-tier football for two weeks in a row and this time, they did it on the road.

All is currently well in Columbia, South Carolina.

Time for some grades!

Offensive Grade: A

I don’t care how blindly optimistic one can be, the offensive turnaround I have witnessed this team make over the past two games should be studied.

How can South Carolina fail to score any offensive points on Florida — one of the worst defenses in the SEC — but hang 63 on Tennessee then 31 on Clemson’s elite defense?

The Gamecocks didn’t even score their points the way I thought they were going to!

Clemson’s defense showed a bit of a weak spot toward opposing backs in recent weeks, so I expected Marshawn Lloyd to have one of his classic games. I guess Clemson was thinking the same thing I was as they went all in on stopping the run, holding Lloyd to only 16 yards rushing on 11 carries.

Luckily, the passing game was working in lieu of the ground game, which saw Rattler throw for 360 yards and two touchdowns to continue his heater from the previous week.

Both of those touchdowns and 131 of those yards were thanks to Antwane “Juice” Wells, who has developed into his unquestioned top target.

Of those 131 yards, 72 came on this touchdown late in the fourth quarter, which was also the longest score Clemson had given up all year.

This game also featured some nice production from the unlikely source that is Nate Adkins.

He had combined for 28 yards on four receptions coming into the Clemson game, but what did he do in this one? Balled!

Adkins caught four balls for 62 yards, including this INSANE grab toward the end of the first quarter that — in my opinion — really kickstarted the offense at a time when it was struggling to get going.

If this is it for Rattler and company for the year (please run it back in 2023), it was definitely ended on a high note.

Defensive Grade: B+

I’m going to kick this section off by saying the 30 points given up by the Gamecocks looks very deceiving.

Many would pin that on the defense without context, but when you consider the pick-six and the safety accounting for nine of those points, you realize this unit really did not have that bad of a day after all.

Special Teams Grade: A+