#3 Clemson at South Carolina
Williams Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC
Noon ESPN
The Tigers will travel down I-385 to visit our feathered friends in Columbia on Saturday for the 2019 edition of The Palmetto Bowl. Clemson is currently 10-0 and one of just three P5 teams that remain unbeaten. They’re ranked third in the CFP Poll and head to Columbia looking for their sixth straight win over the rival Gamecocks.
It has been a rough season on and off the field for UofSC. They come into this one at 4-7 on the season, and 3-5 in SEC play. Since their big upset of Georgia in Athens back on October 12, things have take a downward turn, seeming to get worse each week. It took less than one month to go from being on top of the world to hitting rock bottom, which happened when App State waltzed into Williams Brice a little more than two weeks ago and handed the Gamecocks a 20-15 loss.
Since the win in Athens they are just 1-4, with their only win coming over a bad Vanderbilt team that was without their starting QB for most of the game. They followed the App St loss up by getting trounced 30-6 by Texas A&M in College Station. This is a team that has been besieged by injuries, again. At some point that is no longer a coincidence. It has been a common theme for Muschamp coached teams.
There has also been a fair amount of drama off the field. Most of it has centered around the status of Muschamp’s future at the school, and was due to the fact the the new President hasn’t learned what and what not to say to the media. Will this be the final Palmetto Bowl for Will Muschamp as the UofSC head coach?
The Gamecock offense has struggled mightily of late. QB Ryan Hillinksi looks more like a freshman each week, plus he looks a little “beat up.” Star wideout Bryan Edwards has missed some time, and just had his knee scoped last week. RBs Rico Dowdle and Tavien Feaster have both missed multiple games of late and the running game has been almost nonexistent the last few weeks.
The South Carolina offense ranks 131st in passing yards per game, 138th in rushing yards per game, and 139th in total yards per game. Clemson ranks 4th in points per game, 1st in pass defense, and 2nd in scoring defense. Let’s take a closer look at each teams numbers to date.
UofSC (+27)
- PPG 24.18
- PPG Allowed 25
- YPG 389.9
- YPG Allowed 381.1
- YPP 5.3
- YPP Allowed 5.4
- Pass YPG 232.9
- Pass YPG Allowed 227.9
- Rush YPG 157
- Rush YPG Allowed 153.2
- Rush YPC 4.7
- Rush YPC Allowed 4.1
- 3rd Down Conv 32% (54-169)
- 3rd Down Conv Allowed 35% (57-163)
- Sacks 23
- Sacks Allowed 23
- Red Zone TDs 47% (17-35)
- Red Zone TDs Allowed 47% (14-30)
Clemson (-27)
- PPG 45.9
- PPG Allowed 10.7
- YPG 543.1
- YPG Allowed 238.2
- YPP 7.5
- YPP Allowed 3.9
- Pass YPG 282.5
- Pass YPG Allowed 128.5
- Rush YPG 260.5
- Rush YPG Allowed 109.7
- Rush YPC 6.6
- Rush YPC Allowed 2.9
- 3rd Down Conv 43% (56-130)
- 3rd Down Conv Allowed 28% (46-165)
- Sacks 34
- Sacks Allowed 10
- Red Zone TDs 75% (39-52)
- Red Zone TDs Allowed 38% (8-21)
** Special shoutout to Alicia Owens, one of the sweetest ladies inside the Clemson fan base! She’s helped me a ton with some of the pictures used on the site, such as the one in this article. She really is the master! Thank you so much!
