South Carolina Football upsets Top 10 team for second consecutive week

South Carolina Football upset the Clemson Tigers, 31-30. The Gamecocks threw for 360 yards and overcame a 14-0 lead from Clemson to start the game. Despite the loss, Will Shipley ran for 132 yards on 15 carries. Additionally, he ran for one touchdown as well.

The game started out with a punt after three plays. Clemson followed up with a punt of their own after four plays. Clemson’s defense stepped up and took advantage of a Spencer Rattler mistake, taking an interception for a pick six.

South Carolina’s offense couldn’t make up for its mistake and had to punt after six plays. Clemson used their running game as Will Shipley led the Tigers toward a Touchdown. South Carolina continued to struggle on offense, beyond a nice 34-yard pass play from Spencer Rattler to Josh Vann.

Clemson couldn’t get the running game going and had to punt after three plays. The Gamecocks finally got the offense going behind Jalen Brooks’s legs and Rattler’s arm to lead South Carolina to six. After a Clemson punt after one first down, South Carolina’s offense would have poor field position and would be unable to prevent a safety, as Clemson now led 16-7 with the ball.

On the ensuing kickoff, Clemson had a very strange kickoff and turned over the ball. South Carolina used this break to score a TD behind the Rattler show to make it a two-point game.

Clemson’s offense picked up behind D.J Uiagalelei’s arm, as he led the Tigers to a TD and a 23-14 lead. South Carolina’s offense was driving down the field, but Rattler struggled once again and threw an interception in the endzone. Clemson couldn’t take advantage of the turnover and had to punt the ball after two first downs. Clemson would punt the ball and shortly after the first half would end.

Clemson’s offense would struggle once again as they had to punt after three plays. Ahmarean Brown had a very nice punt return, running for 37 yards to put the Gamecocks’ offense right out of the red zone. South Carolina’s offense would take advantage of this and score a TD, making it a two-point game.

The Tigers’ offense would struggle again and had to punt after three plays. South Carolina did the same thing and had to punt after three plays. The running game for the Tigers would pick up and lead Clemson to six points. South Carolina quickly responded behind a 72-yard TD connection from Rattler to Antwane Wells on the second play of the drive.

Clemson would punt the ball after three plays, as the offense continued to struggle. South Carolina was able to take advantage of Clemson’s struggling offense, as they went down the field. They struggled near the red zone and had to settle for three, making it a 31-30 game.

Clemson’s offense continued to punt the ball after three plays as they did on their opening drive of the fourth. South Carolina returned the favor and punted the ball after four plays. DJ Uiagalelei would give the ball right back to the Gamecocks, as he threw an interception on the second play of the drive to Marcellas Dial.

South Carolina Football wouldn’t take advantage of this and had to punt the ball after four plays. Again, Clemson’s offense would struggle and couldn’t even get a first down on their next drive, punting the ball after three plays. South Carolina would give them one more shot at winning the game as they couldn’t get a first down as well.

Clemson’s special teams wouldn’t even give the Tigers’ poor offense as a chance to win this game as they muffed the punt and South Carolina recovered. The Gamecocks would get into victory formation and win the game, 31-30.

South Carolina Football upsets Clemson for second consecutive Top 10 win

As this is an SEC blog, we won’t really get into an autopsy of Clemson’s season. They still had a shot at the playoff until this loss. Yet, they really didn’t look great at times. This season, the Tigers had a hole at QB. Their resume included taking down a fun Syracuse team, NC State, Florida State, and Louisville. Their one loss came in a blowout loss to Notre Dame.

One of the main reasons they lost this week was because of their lackluster secondary that allowed 350+ passing yards on the day. Additionally, Clemson’s hole at QB proved pivotal in this one, as Uiagalelei only threw for 99 yards on the day.

They will still probably beat North Carolina next week just because the Tar Heels have struggled in recent weeks, including a loss to Georgia Tech. Still, if they want to have a shot at the playoff next season, they will have to figure out the QB situation.

Yes, South Carolina Football got blown out by Arkansas early in the season (it was 35-16 with 12:09 left in the fourth quarter, that’s a blowout), and lost to Missouri in two games where the offense struggled. Still, South Carolina knocked out two teams that had legitimate playoff dreams (Tennessee and Clemson) from reaching those dreams.

At times, it seemed like South Carolina Football would end up taking a step back this year (see Missouri and Florida’s loss). Instead, the Gamecocks finished the regular season with two straight victories over two top ten-ranked teams by going for at least 30 points in both victories. Spencer Rattler led an offense that cooked in the last two weeks.

Winning a bowl game would make this season a huge success for Shane Beamer and Co.. This season is already a success for the Gamecocks but finishing the season off with 9 wins and a bowl game win would be the cherry on top for the Gamecocks.

After the Florida game, it seemed like they wouldn’t win a game for the rest of the season. With only six wins and losing to Missouri/not being able to compete with Florida and Arkansas, it seemed like this season was a minor success at best. Instead, the Gamecocks have a chance to make this season a major success!