Its that time of the year again.
It’s officially that week again—the one that determines jobs, reframes entire seasons, and, most importantly, reasserts (or rewrites) the balance of state dominance. Clemson enters rivalry week riding a modest winning streak, but no one in orange should pretend the Tigers can simply squeeze past this South Carolina matchup.
Yes, the Gamecocks sit at 4–7 and have fallen well short of expectations, but they still field the same quarterback who carved up Clemson last season. And the Tigers will be shorthanded up front, missing Braydon Jacobs and Walker Parks—two players who have been instrumental in the trenches, particularly against a physical and disruptive South Carolina defensive line.
For Clemson, the keys to the game seem straightforward enough. First: establish the run. Keep the Gamecocks guessing and avoid putting Cade Klubnik in too many obvious passing situations where he’s exposed. Second: contain the quarterback. LaNorris Sellers gashed the Tigers with his legs last season, and you can bet new defensive coordinator Tom Allen has had Sellers’ name circled in every meeting this week.
Dabo Swinney noted the transition from Wes Goodwin by pointing out that Goodwin wasn’t on the field trying to tackle Sellers—implying there’s only so much a coordinator can do. But there was another Tiger last year who also never got a shot at bringing Sellers down: linebacker Sammy Brown, who didn’t play in the fourth quarter of that matchup.
South Carolina, meanwhile, enters with nothing to lose. The Gamecocks aren’t bowl-bound, so they’re hunting momentum—momentum the Tigers desperately want for themselves, both on the recruiting trail and in bowl positioning. Clemson will likely need to play its cleanest game in weeks, shedding the sloppy habits that somehow haven’t cost them recently. This is, in every sense, a major optics game. Clemson wants to reassert control; South Carolina wants to make it three wins in the last four meetings and secure something meaningful to look back on as the offseason begins.
The Tigers will also be without Chris Denson, injured during practice this week while working on the scout team—yet another entry on a growing injury list. And once this one is in the books, expect a swift and significant wave of portal departures on both sides. Neither team is headed to the playoff, and the first Saturday after rivalry week has a way of accelerating decisions.
We can speculate all we want, analyze every matchup on paper, and revisit every storyline from a year ago, but the truth is you never really know how this game will unfold until toe meets leather at noon inside Williams-Brice Stadium.