The South Carolina Gamecocks take on the Clemson Tigers in a rivalry game on Saturday at the Memorial Stadium in Clemson.
The Tigers are undefeated at 11-0 and are ranked #2 in the nation. The Gamecocks are 6-4 on the season, with their losses coming to ranked teams. In a match-up that appears to be like David versus Goliath, South Carolina hopes to pull off a win that could shock the world.
When Will Muschamp took over as head coach in 2015, he inherited a 3-9 team. He turned the program around to a 6-7 record in his first season. Three years later, the Gamecocks have displayed good progress but at 6-4 this season, they showed that they aren’t over the hump yet. Still, South Carolina has played in many competitive games this season and their last two losses have been by a combined seven points. Playing in their second to the last game of their season, the Gamecocks has a chance to pull off a huge upset.
Junior quarterback Jake Bentley leads the Gamecocks offense with over 2,200 passing yards and 19 touchdowns on the season. At Bentley’s disposal are three of the Southeastern Conference’s top receivers in Bryan Edwards, Deebo Samuel and Shi Smith. The three have combined for over 1,700 receiving yards this season with a combined 15 receiving touchdowns. The South Carolina offense has scored an average of 42.7 points per game in its last three games but will face a daunting task against the #1 defense in the nation.
So far, so good. The Clemson Tigers are right where they want to be at this stage of the season. The Tigers are unbeaten in 11 games and are in the Top 2 of the College Football Playoff. This week, they play at home in what is likely going to be a tune-up game prior to their December 1 ACC title game against Pittsburgh.
Much has been talked about the Tigers’ defense which has allowed an FBS low 12.1 points per game this season. And it looks like they are not letting up, even with the season winding down as Clemson has not allowed more than 13 points in their last six games played. But Clemson isn’t all defense as freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence is playing like a future top overall draft pick, completing 65% of his passes while throwing for a total of 2,095 yards with 21 scores and 4 pick offs only.
South Carolina is 4-2 SU in their last six games played and is 6-13 SU in their last 19 games played on the road. Clemson is 5-0 SU in their last 5 games and also 5-0 SU in their last five home games played. Head to head, the Tigers are 4-1 SU when playing the Gamecocks and 7-3 SU when playing at home against South Carolina.
The Gamecocks may be underdogs but they are no pushovers as such. In their last 15 games as underdogs, they have gone 11-4 ATS while winning seven of those games SU. However, one of the games they failed to cover was a 34-10 loss to Clemson where they were a +13.5.
South Carolina has played good offense this season but their offense has not played a defense like Clemson especially when playing in the home of the Tigers. Since their surprise 42-45 loss to Pitt in November 2016, the Tigers have allowed more than 20 points just once in their last 14 games while limiting 9 opponents during that stretch to single digit scoring. Clemson won all 14 games SU although they were a middling 7-6-1 ATS because they were favorites by 30 or more points in seven games during that period.
The Gamecocks have scored just a combined 17 points in their last two games against Clemson. This game should be no different from the last two. The result should be no different from the previous results at Clemson Memorial Stadium. We’re picking the Clemson Tigers to beat the South Carolina Gamecocks on 11/24/18.
The Gamecocks are 4-2 ATS in their last 6 games played and 8-1 ATS in their last 9 games on the road. The Tigers meanwhile are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games but are only 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games at home. Head to head, South Carolina is 6-3 ATS in their last 9 games against Clemson. However, the Tigers are 2-1 ATS in their last 3 meetings.
This Clemson team has been rough housing their opponents. They entered last week’s game against Duke having covered five straight games and were a point shy from covering a sixth in a 29 point win. Five out of their last six victories have been by 29 point or more with three wins by a margin of 49 or more points. 26 is plenty of points to Cover but given how this Clemson machine has operated, no doubt this is going to be another blowout win. Prediction: Clemson -16 (-113)
The total has gone over in 4 out of South Carolina’s last 6 games played but the under is 6-2 in the Gamecocks’ last 8 road games. The total has gone under in 4 out of Clemson’s last 5 games played at home and the under is also 6-2 in the last 8 meetings between South Carolina and Clemson.
In the normal course of business, this will be a one-sided game with the Tigers unloading another show of force on the offensive end. However, this is also the last chance for Clemson to give their starters a little breather should they take a big lead early in this game. Most likely, Clemson is going to take that huge lead early and so, there is the probability that they will rest their main men. With South Carolina not doing much against Clemson’s defense, the total here is really dependent on what Clemson wants to do. That’s tough to bet on. Personally, I think they take a big lead in the opening half and then move to ball control in the second half to keep everyone healthy. I recommend going with the under. Prediction: Under 58 -110
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