The Clemson angle

CLEMSON — If the Clemson-South Carolina rivalry wasn’t intense enough, South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier spiced it up even a little earlier this week when he questioned the toughness of Clemson’s schedule, and thus the quality of a team it puts on the field.

Well, if our projections of the 2008 season come true, then Spurrier’s Gamecocks will be battling a Clemson team that will enter this game 10-1 overall and ranked either in the top five or just outside it. If this happens, it will mark the first time since 1981 the Tigers will enter the regular season finale with at least 10 wins. As everyone knows, Clemson entered that game 10-0 and completed a perfect regular season with a 29-13 victory over South Carolina and then went on to win its only national championship six weeks later in the Orange Bowl.

But despite what Spurrier calls a much tougher schedule, the Gamecocks, by our projections, will be 8-3 entering this game – meaning for the first time since 1988 both teams will enter the rivalry game with at least eight wins.

The Tigers head into this year’s contest looking to beat South Carolina for the ninth time in the last 11 years and for the second straight time. Overall, Clemson leads the all-time series 64-37-4, including a 15-8-1 record in Death Valley, the site of this year’s meeting.

Since 1976, the Tigers have dominated the rivalry with a 23-8-1 record, including four-game winning streaks from 1980-’83, 1988-’91, 1997-2000 and 2002-’05, and a three-game winning streak from 1976-’78. As for USC, it has not beaten Clemson in back-to-back years since winning three in a row from 1968-’70

Since the Gamecocks joined the SEC in 1992, Clemson is 11-5 against USC. Will those trends continue in 2008? Will Spurrier’s comments about the Tigers’ weak schedule turn against him and be used as a little more motivation for a Clemson team that quite possibly will be preparing for the ACC Championship Game the following week?

Clemson offense vs. South Carolina’s defense

By this point in the season, the Tigers’ offensive line questions will already be answered, running back James Davis should own just about every Clemson rushing record, wide receiver Aaron Kelly should own all the receiving records at Clemson and in the ACC, and quarterback Cullen Harper will be prepping for his future NFL career. If Clemson can avoid the injury bug and its offensive line develops some continuity early in the season, then there is no reason to think the Tigers should not have the best offense in the ACC and one of the more explosive in the country.

Clemson’s defense vs. South Carolina’s offense

Clemson’s front four might be the best in the ACC with Dorell Scott, Rashaad Jackson, Ricky Sapp and freshman Da’Quan Bowers, plus there are six or seven others who have a good case to be playing as well. Granted, linebacker is thin and it will be important to stay as healthy as they can up front in order to offset these three positions, but the secondary is loaded with talent and is one of the best in the country thanks to guys like Michael Hamlin, Chris Clemons, Chris Chancellor and Crezdon Butler. Like the offense, if things go right, this defense can be as good as anyone, and odds are they will.

Special teams

Here lies the determining factor in how good the Tigers can be. Does Andre’ Powell make a difference as the special teams coordinator? Does Mark Buchholz become more consistent with his kicks and how good will Jimmy Maners be at punter? We already know C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford are two of the more dangerous returners in the country, but will they offset a poor coverage team, which consistently has allowed game-changing kickoff and punt returns over the years. And let’s not forget about bad snaps over the punter’s head, blocked punts, field goals and extra points either.

The overview

Spurrier is trying to build a winner in Columbia, but even he admits that the job is harder than he originally thought. The Gamecocks will make good strides this year, but overall, this program is still a few years away from consistently being a contender in the SEC East. Clemson on the other hand is there. The Tigers are the favorite to win the ACC and should do it. It’s not so much that Clemson’s schedule is easy as it is that the Tigers have patiently built a solid program that after 10 years under Tommy Bowden is now considered a major player again in the ACC race. As much as USC fans hate to hear this, the Clemson program is ahead of the South Carolina program and because of that, the Tigers should finish the regular season 11-1 and move onto the ACC Championship Game and quite possibly a BCS game.

The South Carolina angle

CLEMSON — It has been, at times, a rocky road for Steve Spurrier since taking over the head coaching duties at South Carolina, but he should be enjoying his best season to date when his Gamecocks roll into Clemson in November.

Memorial Stadium was the site of what is possibly Spurrier’s signature victory, as the Gamecocks triumphed over Clemson by a final score of 31-28 in 2006, as Tigers kicker Jad Dean missed his chance to send the game into overtime with 13 seconds left to play, but it’ll be a little harder to grab a victory this time around.

South Carolina should have already matched its best single-season win total under Spurrier with eight by the time its heads north to take on its rival, but the Gamecocks will likely be reeling after a loss at Florida. The Clemson trip will also likely be the Gamecocks’ second consecutive road game against a top-10 team.

Regardless, you can throw records, rankings and all expectations aside when Clemson and the Gamecocks get together, as it’s hard to predict what’s going to go down, even though certain media outlets try their best, even three months ahead of time.

South Carolina nearly got the best of the Tigers last season at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia following a four-game losing skid.

Despite having two punts blocked, South Carolina had secured a 21-20 lead with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, before Clemson kicker Mark Buchholz hit the game-winning field goal as time expired for a 23-21 victory.

This year’s game should have a similar look, as many of the starters on both sides of the ball, for each school, will be back on the field this time around.

Also, the Tigers have several stars across the board, who should be among the nation’s best at their respective positions, and should be gearing up for an ACC Championship game appearance.

But again, that information might as well be thrown out the window when these rivals collide in Clemson.

South Carolina’ offense vs. Clemson’s defense

The Gamecocks will have hopefully found their offensive groove by this point in the season, with wide receiver Kenny McKinley probably have already broken the school career records for receptions, receiving yards and likely touchdowns as well.

At running back, Mike Davis should be an adequate option, though not quite as lethal as Cory Boyd was before him.

As long as his offensive line has held up, quarterback Tommy Beecher should be rounding out a solid, but not great, year as the Gamecocks’ signal caller. Having been in The Swamp a week earlier will have been good practice for entering his first starting assignment in Clemson, where the noise has been cited as a huge factor over the years.

South Carolina’s defense vs. Clemson’s offense

South Carolina’s strength will be up for another huge challenge after facing Tim Tebow the week before after what will have been a solid defensive year for the Gamecocks.

The return of Jasper Brinkley at middle linebacker will have helped South Carolina get over the issues it had trying to stop the run last year, and with Captain Munnerlyn leading the secondary, the Gamecocks will have also done a good job against the pass.

First-year defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson will have this group playing at its best since the Spurrier era began.

Stopping guys like James Davis, C.J. Spiller, Cullen Harper, Aaron Kelly and Jacoby Ford will be no small challenge though, but having seen Tebow and Percy Harvin the week before will have served as a good tune-up.

Special teams

This area turned out to doom the Gamecocks against Clemson last year, as La’Donte Harris and Nelson Faerber both blocked punts for the Tigers.

The Gamecocks, however, should be strong on special teams heading into the Clemson game under new coordinator Ray Rychleski.

Placekicker Ryan Succop could very well find himself in discussion for All-SEC honors to round out a strong career with the Gamecocks, and the return game should be above average.

Judging by Clemson’s performances in recent years, this one could come down to special teams.

The Gamecocks would do well to make Buchholz handle most of Clemson’s scoring chances after a shaky junior season.

The overview

Despite having a good season, the Gamecocks look a bit overmatched from a talent standpoint in this game.

South Carolina is going to make this is a close game once again, but it’ll be hard to spoil Senior Day for a strong group of Tigers that should find themselves playing on Sundays in 2009.

Regardless, the Gamecocks will be preparing for a respectable bowl trip, its first in two years, following their game with the Tigers.

South Carolina should wrap up its season with a bowl victory to total nine wins on the season, the best in Spurrier’s stay in Columbia, giving the Gamecocks plenty of optimism for the future.

Prediction

Clemson 24, South Carolina 16

Next: The real season kicks off!