Gameday forecast for Clemson
To kick or not to kick to C.J. Spiller, that is the question.
There are a lot of interesting subplots to Saturday’s 107th edition of Clemson-USC. Can Steve Spurrier guide the Gamecocks’ offense past the 16-point barrier in his second game since taking over the play-calling duties?
Will one of the seniors from USC’s small outgoing class seize the moment with a big game or huge play that etches his name into the history books of our state’s equivalent of the Super Bowl?
Will the Gamecocks go after Kyle Parker early to get the freshman quarterback thinking about the blitz, sort of a first-inning, high-and-tight fastball to send a message to the Tigers’ designated hitter/passer?
All pertinent matters.
But The Spiller Question figures to add drama even to the high-noon coin toss. If the Tigers win the flip and elect to receive, do the Gamecocks elect to bang it deep to the player whose next kickoff return for a touchdown will give him more (seven) than anyone in NCAA history?
If the Gamecocks do plan on kicking it to Spiller, they ought to load up their coverage team with defensive starters. After all, players have a month to recover for whichever fast food-sponsored bowl game USC goes to – the Chick-fil-A or the Papajohns.com.
By that same thinking, it’s time for Spurrier to give Stephon Gilmore a few snaps at QB in the WildCock formation. USC experimented with the look in preseason before Ellis Johnson and his defensive staff convinced Spurrier that Gilmore was too valuable at corner to risk injuring him on a couple of option keepers.
But it’s late November and USC is facing a rival that has won 10 of the past 12 games in the series, including three of four since Spurrier arrived. It’s time to check caution at the door.
Not saying Gilmore needs to play every other series. But it might be worth mixing it up against a Clemson defense that gave up a good chunk of first-half yards last week against Virginia’s Wildcat.
Make no mistake, this is Stephen Garcia’s offense. And the redshirt sophomore looked good for three quarters two weeks ago against the No. 1 team in the country until his ill-fated pass doomed the Gamecocks’ upset hopes vs. Florida.
There can be no “until” Saturday for Garcia. He needs to play well the entire game, not 45 minutes.
But for all this talk about USC’s offense and kick coverage team, this game will come down to the Gamecocks’ defense.
USC has gone four games without creating a turnover, an almost-unheard of stretch of 16 quarters in which the defense has failed to change a game’s momentum and give the offense a short field to work with.
The Gamecocks need to come up with two to three turnovers today. If they don’t, they don’t win.
If that means blitzing Parker a few more times than USC did against Tim Tebow, so be it. Clemson has too many offensive weapons for the Gamecocks to sit back in their base D and rely on three-and four-man fronts to generate pressure.
Clemson has its share of playmakers on defense, too. Safety DeAndre McDaniel has eight of the Tigers’ 20 interceptions, all but one of which were hauled in by defensive backs.
USC has five INTs, three from its linebackers, two from its corners and none from its safeties.
It’s tough for a Tiger to change its stripes in the season’s 12th game. Ditto a Gamecock.
Clemson 28, USC 24
26 Comments to “Gameday forecast for Clemson”
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USC football beat writer Joe Person has covered the Gamecocks since the start of the 2002 season. He's been on the college football beat since 1993. 
Say it ain’t so Joe! I prefer this prediction: Carolina wins 28-17
I don’t mind our chances if we take a close game into the 4th quarter at home with the crowd still into the game.
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Pain to the tigers and A LOT of it.
Sorry Gamecocks our hearts are not really in it. See we want to win but not our goal. the ORANGE BOWL is what it’s all about. I want the TIGERS to play hard and play to win but not with anyone that is even alittle banged up. if that happens an we still win your in more trouble than i thought.
I’m with mred over on the forum. If Grantz gave Garcia his stamp of approval, that’s all I need to know.
Joe,,,your stripes never change,,,,PLEASE PLEASE,,,,move to the upstate where you kiss their rear end,,and you do it prety good too.You never comment about the weak conference and schedule CLEM n SON has,,,,and also the hard schedule USC has…..ACC,,,,stands for A-Cupcake-Conference ,,,,,point that out if you are as good a writer as you claim and want to be ,,,you MORON,,,,
joe, i think your prediction is correct. I admire you for standing up and writing articles that are many times not too popular with usc fans. I think Clemson is the better team.
spiller may have biggest game of the year…. usc seems to have trouble stopping playmakers when it counts. also, they can’t seem to capitalize when they have opportunities.
heck, even spurrier isn’t confident in his team.. he keeps saying “we hope to play our best game” of the year.. sadly, “we hope” is an expression usc has used for way too long now. face the facts.. 6-6 here we come.
for spurrier to have success, he will need to establish a better running game, not expect too much from garcia, and have a defense to keep em in every game. unfortunately, i’m concerned this is too much to ask as he is too stubborn, and hates to run the ball.. we will give him the benefit of the doubt, but in 3 yrs everyone will have realized the game has passed him. how sad…
oh.. and another ryan succop would help a lot..
remember.. we need Defense to be GREAT, much improved running game.. if you have trouble running the ball, use garcia..
if you don’t change anything, you can expect the same results.
good luck cocks.. my prediction is 28-16 clemson
I don’t care if the score is 1-2 as long as the Tigers have the 2
Joe:
Get a toupee and drink some vita-water; Gamecocks stomp Clemson today, book it.
huleoal, please quit riding the coat tails of belonging to the SEC. That has no bearing on another dismal season by USC. They have never contended in the SEC and only contended once when they were in the ACC. It is a tired argument that USC belongs to a superior conference. If, and when, USC manages to consistently beat the Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama teams that routinely beat USC, you will then have an argument. USC was awful even as an independent. Maybe USC should petition to join the Big East or maybe move down to Div II (or whatever they call it these days). Just because you belong to the SEC does not justify a consistently failed program. Find another reason to justify your pitiful teams record.
If all you got left for the season, is to savage it against Clemson, its gonna be a long winter! Win something and who have you beaten this year Oh 6 – 6, then talk.
The want is there but the execution is not. I see USC holding Spiller down 2 out of 3 carries. So 3 carries for 75 yards and a TD on the first drive.
If the Tigers get up quick, USC folds like a (insert analogy here).
Tigers 45, USC 10
However if USC can get up fast, they may hold on fo a squeaker. That is what I am hoping for.
Unknown to us Carolina fateful, a so called sports anaylsis suggested that Clemson better resembled a SEC team rather than USC. Really? The reality of the situation is this: In no shape, form, or fashion does Clemson resembled any SEC team. It all starts with recruiting…and w/out question, Carolina has out recruited Clemson for several years now. We witnessed Saturday night pure SEC talent vursus ACC talent. Carolina demonstrated they had the most talent (w/out question) and dominated Clemson in all 3 phases of the game.
Joe you are the freaking Gamecocks beat reporter, supposed to know this team better than anyone. This foolish, gutless prediction of yours does not reflect well on your knowledge of either team.
I guess you don’t know much about USC. Go work for Clemsux
Nope. Try 34 – 17
kick to spiller and the taters STILL GOT SPURRED!!!
THAT IS HOW A FIGHTING GAMECOCK TEAM PLAYS!!! WITH HEART,FIGHT AND NEVER GIVE UP!!! TATERS U IN TROUBLE FOR YEARS TO GO…U R AN OLE TEAM AND WE R THE 2ND YOUNGEST IN THE NATION…SO YOU WILL BE GETTING MORE BUTT WHIPPINGS FOR YEARS TO COME…
taters U JUST GOT SPURRED!!! GOOOO FIGHTING COCKS!!!
Hey clemson fans who won today and guess who is going to lose next week game in the ACC game against GT
Spurrier vs Swinney was like a rocket scientist
vs a kid with a paper airplane. Nuff said.
Joe,
Now do you believe?
SEC is so much tougher than ACC.
Watch the polls and the Heisman Trophy race
HEY JOE,,,,,,GREAT PREDICTION ON YOUR PART,,,NOW EVERYONE WANTS TO SEE YOU WRITE HOW STUPID YOU ARE.NO COMPARISON BETWEEN SEC AND ACC…DO YOU GET IT NOW,?
Wrong again Joe. Go Gamecocks
I love how wrong Joe continues to be about Carolina Football. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, but Joe doesn’t even meet that standard.
Oh, and I also love how some Taters like tucker8424 were getting their excuses in order the day before the game. See, even some Clempsun fans knew that a beatdown was coming their way.