South Carolina takes on host Clemson on Saturday afternoon in the annual intrastate rivalry game that has national implications when it comes to either one landing a spot in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff.
For the first time since 2017, the 121st Palmetto Bowl will feature ranked teams. Clemson leads the all-time series 73-43-4 and won last year’s meeting at South Carolina, a year after the Gamecocks ended the Tigers’ 40-game home winning streak.
The stakes are high for both, but especially for South Carolina, which is ranked 15th in the latest CFP rankings, released Tuesday night.
South Carolina (8-3) is locked out from playing in the Southeastern Conference championship game with three conference losses. But a victory over their state rivals could boost the Gamecocks’ chances of landing an at-large spot in the playoffs.
The Tigers (9-2), ranked 12th in the latest CFP poll, can still clinch a berth in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game and keep their hopes of securing an automatic berth in the CFP alive. But Clemson can’t control its fate since that would only happen if Miami loses to Syracuse on Saturday.
As the Gamecocks wrap up what’s been an impressive regular season, with wins over Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Missouri, coach Shane Beamer spoke about the Clemson rivalry and how he expects it to have major implications for years to come.
“This is fun and exciting to be a part of. And to me, this is going to be a yearly occurrence. Like, we’re not going anywhere, our program,” Beamer said during his Tuesday press conference. “We’re only continuing to ascend. And (Clemson coach) Dabo (Swinney) and Clemson have shown they’re not going anywhere.”
Swinney talked about the importance of this year’s matchup and how it had more at stake than the Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn traditionally has, appearing to take a jab at ESPN’s “College Gameday” for not traveling to this year’s game in the Palmetto State.
“The Alabama-Auburn game, my background, always had a little bit more of national implications than this game has had, from a national standpoint,” Swinney said. “But that’s different this year. This is the game that’s got a lot of national implications. You know, that one down there’s just going to be bragging rights.”
South Carolina enters the game on a five-game winning streak with a solid rushing attack and one of the top scoring defenses in the nation. The Gamecocks are ranked 14th in the nation in scoring defense (18.2 points allowed per game) and 12th against the run (103.4 yards allowed).
That unit will face a tough Clemson rushing attack, led by Phil Mafah (1,012 yards) and complemented by versatile quarterback Cade Klubnik. The Tigers have won three in a row since losing at home to Louisville, and their offense is ranked 11th in the nation in scoring (37.6 points), 26th in passing and 23rd in rushing.
Clemson’s defense has been vulnerable at times, both through the air and on the ground. Led by Raheim Sanders (821 yards, 11 TDs), South Carolina will try to exploit both areas. The Gamecocks are ranked fourth in the SEC in rushing offense. LaNorris Sellers leads the Gamecocks’ passing attack (2,110 yards), which collectively ranks 14th in the nation in passer rating.
