WHAT WE ARE HEARING: PALMETTO BOWL PREVIEW & PREDICTION FOR NO.24 CLEMSON at SOUTH CAROLINA

Welcome to the Palmetto Bowl edition of What We Are Hearing!

It’s been a long 364 days for Clemson fans, but the Tigers finally have their chance to avenge last season’s 31-30 comeback win by the Gamecocks, ending the Tigers’ 8-year win streak in the rivalry and the Tigers’ nation-long 40-game home win streak in Death Valley. That loss kept the Tigers out of the playoff, and they can get a small measure of payback by depriving the Gamecocks of a bowl this season. The Gamecocks also handed the Clemson seniors the only career home loss in their final game in Death Valley, and now the Tigers can return the favor by handing Rattler, Joyner and the other Gamecock seniors a lost in their final home game. In a way, this bizarre season of catastrophic mistakes began in that game last season. Dabo had won over 99 percent of his games when leading at the half, but a couple of catastrophic fumbles—one by Mafah on a trick kickoff return, and one by Columbia native Antonio Williams, a true freshman—cost the Tigers everything. We saw that continue in the Orange Bowl and every Power Five game this season until the Georgia Tech game a couple weeks ago. Even in the win against Notre Dame, Mafah fumbled late, giving the Irish a chance to tie the game. We’ll see if the Tigers can reverse the curse on Saturday! As per usual, it’s a night game in Columbia for the sixth time in the last seven meetings there. Although both teams had better records last season, and the Tigers were ranked in the top 10, they gave Clemson a noon kickoff, and that undoubtedly helped the Gamecocks win. It will be a raucous crowd in Williams-Brice on Saturday night for the 120th meeting! As if this game didn’t already have enough hype and juice, President Donald Trump will be in attendance along with former SC Governor, presidential candidate and Clemson alumna Nikki Haley, whose daughter is also a Clemson grad. I’m sure she will be wearing her Orange! On to the matchup…

SCAR SYNOPSIS

The Gamecocks opened their season with a blowout loss to UNC in Charlotte. They gave Georgia a scare in Athens, up 14-3 at halftime, but were shut out in the second half and lost 24-14. After falling to 2-6, it looked like Jacksonville State (the Gamecocks), of all teams, might deprive them of a bowl in their own stadium. After trailing 21-14 in the 3rd quarter, however, the home Gamecocks rallied to win 38-28. That was the beginning of a 3-game win streak that was followed by a blowout home win over Vandy and a 17-14 home win over Kentucky last week. Now they need to beat the Tigers at home for the first time in 10 years in order to make a bowl.

The Gamecocks lost 20 players from the team that beat the Tigers via the transfer portal, most notably TE Jaheim Bell (FSU), RB Marshawn Lloyd (Southern Cal), DE Jordan Burch (Oregon) and TE Austin Stogner (Oklahoma). All four of those players have been starters for top 10 teams this season. They also lost some key defensive players to the NFL along with WR Josh Vann, who had 2 catches for 56 yards in the Palmetto Bowl last year.

However, the main ingredient from the stunning upset last season, Spencer Rattler, is still the starting quarterback for the Gamecocks in his second season after transferring from Oklahoma. He started last year’s Palmetto Bowl with a pick-six to Trotter (who has two pick-sixes this season) for the first score of the game and was later intercepted by Mickens, but Rattler rallied, finishing 25-39 with 360 yards and 2 TD passes in the comeback win. He also had a rushing touchdown. His back-to-back performances against a pair of top-10 teams in Tennessee and Clemson last season were about as good as you’ll ever see. The 6’1, 217-pound senior has been up and down this season as well, completing 70.6 percent of his passes for 3,074 yards and 19 touchdowns with 7 interceptions. He only averages one net yard per carry rushing and has been sacked 38 times, which is surprising because he’s a very good scrambler. He was sacked 9 times in the opener by the Tar Heels!

Rattler’s biggest weapon this season has been 6’3, 227-pound senior Xavier Legette (#17). I remember seeing him as a freshman and saying he was going to be a good one someday, and boy was I right. Legette has blossomed into one of the best receivers in college football with 65 catches for 1,187 yards and 7 touchdowns this season, averaging 18.3 yards per catch. Rattler loves to throw the deep ball to him, and you’d better know where he is on 3rd down. Not only is Legette potentially playing in his last collegiate football game if the Gamecocks lose, but he missed the game in Death Valley last season, so you know he has been waiting all year for this game! He’s also dangerous on special teams; he returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown against Texas A&M last season.

Second on the team in receptions is 6’5, 237-pound senior TE Trey Knox (#1). He has 36 catches for 312 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He had 4 catches for 35 yards last week and a season-high 8 catches for 15 yards and a score in the 41-39 home loss to Florida. 6’4, 238-pound senior TE Joshua Simon (#6) also has a pair of scores and is third on the team with 26 catches. 6’2, 180-pound sophomore O’Mega Blake (#89) from nearby Rock Hill has 19 catches and 2 TD’s, including one in the blowout win over Vandy two weeks ago. However, he did not catch a pass last week against Kentucky. 5’9, 169-pound slot receiver Ahmarean Brown (#10) has 25 catches this season, scoring his only touchdown against Vandy.

Senior WR Juice Wells had a monster game against the Tigers last year with 9 catches for 131 yards and 2 TD’s. However, he missed the opener against UNC and was injured in the Georgia game after scoring a touchdown in the first half. He has not played since, and Beamer said this week that he does not expect Wells to play on Saturday, but if he feels physically and mentally ready, Beamer will let him play.

6’1, 229-pound senior RB Dakereon Joyner (#5), a former quarterback and receiver who Clemson recruited as a defensive back, suffered a lower body injury against Jacksonville State a few weeks ago and has not played since. However, Beamer said this week, “DK has assured us he’s going to play.” This game means a lot to Joyner, so I won’t be surprised if he sacrifices his body to be on the field. He has just 49 carries for 115 yards, averaging 2.3 yards per, with 5 touchdowns this season. He also has 21 catches for 117 yards. If he does play, he’s a trick play threat because of his ability to throw and catch. He had just one carry for a one-yard loss in the last meeting. Junior RB Juju McDowell (#0) suffered a broken collar bone in the first quarter of the Vandy game and will not play on Saturday. He had 26 carries for 63 yards and 2 TD’s this season.

A big storyline for the Gamecocks this season has been the play of senior transfer Mario Anderson (#24), who the fans call “Super Mario.” The 5’9, 208-pound bowling ball of a running back from Summerville transferred from FCS Newberry College, just outside of Columbia, and has led the Gamecocks in carries this season with Joyner missing most of the season and now McDowell out. He averages 5.2 yards per carry with 3 scores and is the type of back that will run through arm tackles, so you better wrap him up! He also has 19 catches for 119 yards and a score. He had a miserable game last week against Kentucky—one of the best defenses he’s played—rushing for just 27 yards on 13 carries with his only fumble of the season. He had just 2 carries for 9 yards early in the season at Georgia. You can bet he’ll be fired up for his first Palmetto Bowl, though! The Gamecocks are a little banged up on the offensive line just like the Tigers.

Defensively, junior LB Debo Williams (#0) leads the team with 102 tackles. He also has a sack and a fumble recovery. 6’5, 298-pound sophomore DT TJ Sanders (#90) leads the team with 4.5 sacks. 6’5, 243-pound senior DE Jordan Strachan (#7) has 4 sacks and 2 forced fumbles on the season. Half of those stats came in their 17-14 win over Kentucky last week, so he was no doubt defensive player of the game. The Gamecocks have 9 interceptions this season by 8 different players. 6’1, 177-pound DB O’Donnell Fortune (#3) is the only player with 2 picks, and one of them was against UNC QB Drake Maye. He was suspended for a violation of team rules, missing the Kentucky game last week, but should play on Saturday.

The Gamecocks have a solid kicker in senior Mitch Jeter. He’s 12-14 on field goals this season with a long of 51. His only 2 misses were over 50 yards. He was 11-11 last season with a long of 53. They also have a returning All-American punter in senior Kai Kroeger. He averages 43.3 yards per punt this season with a long of 60. He averaged 46.1 yards per punt last season, including a 79-yarder, and had a big impact on the Clemson game, being named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance. He averaged 53.7 yards on his 7 punts in that game, with 3 downed inside the 5-yard line! If any one of those had been a touchback, the Tigers might have won. Kroeger also completed a 23-yard TD pass on a fake punt against Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl and a 48-yard TD pass against Florida. As the son of Hall of Famer Frank Beamer, Shane prides himself on special teams and brought his brand of “Beamer Ball” to Columbia. The Gamecocks had the best special teams unit in the nation last season, and it’s a big reason for their upset win in Death Valley, so beware of the fakes in the kicking game on Saturday!

CLEMSON STATUS

The Tigers might have had the most players available all season last week with only 5 starters out and backup corner Jeadyn Lukus. The bad news is Beaux Collins will be out Saturday with plantar fasciitis in his foot. He had to miss the Palmetto Bowl last year with an injury too! That means the Tigers will be without all 3 of their starting wide receivers from the beginning of the season: Cole Turner, Antonio Williams and Beaux Collins. The Tigers have been absolutely plagued by injuries for 3 straight seasons—especially at the receiver position, which is ironic because Dabo was a WR and WR coach. The good news is that Dabo told us on Wednesday that Antonio is practicing again and might be available for the bowl game in over a month. Thank goodness for true freshman Tyler Brown! With all the injuries, they really needed him to have the season he’s had, just like Antonio did last year as a true freshman. OG Marcus Tate will be out as well, but the offensive line has played well in his absence. Safety Jalyn Phillips will be a game day decision after missing Senior Day last week. Let’s hope Briningstool stays healthy for these last couple games because the Tigers are very young and thin at tight end since Ennis tore his ACL a couple weeks ago, and Briningstool has been a major piece of the offense this season.

How about the return of Will Shipley?! Since missing the Notre Dame game with a concussion, he has been sensational. Many fans were pointing to Mafah averaging a couple more yards per carry than Shipley earlier in the season, but those averages have been flipped in the last two games. Mafah has been outstanding as well over the last 3 games, and the Tigers have a lethal one-two punch with the close friends and roommates.

The Tigers have won the turnover for 3 straight games, and sure enough, they have 3 big wins. Shipley had a bad fumble in the red zone last week after a great run, and Mafah had a fumble at the end of the Notre Dame game, so the mistakes aren’t completely behind them, but the difference is that it hasn’t been multiple catastrophic mistakes in the same game, and the defense has been creating turnovers. I’ve said it all season: if the Tigers just broke even in the turnover margin every game, they would be 11-0 or at least 10-1. The kicking game has also continued to struggle with Weitz missing field goals. He’s been iced by coaches twice with last-second timeouts, forcing him to miss after making his first attempt. I’m sure Beamer will call a timeout if Weitz is about to attempt anything longer than 35 yards! Incidentally, Dabo told us that Gunn has made about 60 percent of his kicks in practice, so Weitz doesn’t have to worry about being replaced anytime soon.

PREDICTION

There will be a lot of emotion on both sidelines for this annual grudge match, and it’s Senior Night for the Gamecocks as well. However, it’s going to come down to the team that executes and doesn’t make mistakes. On paper, the Tigers win this game easily. The Gamecocks are nowhere near as good as Notre Dame or UNC, each of whom the Tigers beat in the last 3 weeks. However, if the Tigers are minus 2 or worse in the turnover margin, it will be another tight game like their 4 losses, and with the adrenaline of the home crowd, that wouldn’t bode well for the Tigers. I expect to see some trickery from Shane Beamer in one form or another, perhaps on more than one play, to tilt the scales. I mentioned the fake punt success they’ve had with Kroeger, and if Joyner plays, he’s always a candidate to throw the ball. Don’t be surprised if the Gamecocks put in freshman QB LaNorris Sellers (#16) at some point in the game. The 6’3, 245-pound Florence native had a 36-yard touchdown run against Vandy and had 2 carries for 9 yards last week against Kentucky. He has not thrown a pass since he completed all 4 of his attempts against Furman in week two. Also, backup QB Luke Doty has 12 catches for 123 yards and a TD, so they might try a double pass with him. The Gamecocks will pull out all the stops to win this one and become bowl eligible!

However, the Tigers are playing their best football of the season right now. With the struggles in the kicking game, Dabo has been going for it on 4th down often in the last couple games, knowing that his defense can bail them out if they don’t convert, and it has paid off. By the way, we may see a fake punt from the Gamecocks, but I would not expect Dabo to try a fake punt for the third straight game! The defense has been championship caliber all season long and given them a chance to win every game. Now they have several freshman coming of age and contributing in a big way with several turnovers and a pick-six in recent games. The offense may struggle at times on Saturday, but defense travels. If Rattler has a clean pocket, he can pick you apart, but I think the Tigers’ front seven will make him uncomfortable and rattle Rattler, who rarely rattles. If the Tigers don’t turn the ball over or they break even in turnovers, they will win this game by at least two scores. They have been trending in that direction, so I think we finally see a clean offensive game from the Tigers. This season feels a little like 2003, Dabo’s first year on the staff, when the Tigers were also 5-4. They stunned No.3 FSU 26-10 (I helped tear down the west goal post for the last time), blew out Duke and won 63-17 in Columbia (I was also there) before beating No.6 Tennessee by a couple touchdowns in the Peach Bowl (I was there too). After a 4-4 start this season, they beat a highly ranked Notre Dame team, blew out Tech and beat No.20 UNC by 2 scores. Let’s hope for more déjà vu! I don’t think I’ll go so far as to predict another 63-17 game, but I think the Tigers avenge last year’s painful loss in Death Valley in a big way. The Palmetto Bowl Trophy comes back to its rightful home in Clemson, and the Gamecocks stay home for bowl season! Make it 4 in a row for the Tigers and possibly a date with the Gator Bowl, whose reps were in the press box at Death Valley last week.

CLEMSON    38        Gamecocks    17