Clemson vs. South Carolina: 4th Quarter Film Review

Welcome to the 4th Quarter Film Review, or in this edition, the most frustrating 15 minutes of film my eyes have seen in a long time (trust me, rewatch the game and you will be screaming over a replay you cannot change).

We pick up our part of the game with Clemson up 42-21 as the final quarter opens in Death Valley. The sky is now foggy, the temperature has dipped into the 30s, and Dabo Swinney hasn’t been criticized for scoring a touchdown yet. Here are some thoughts about the game up until this point:

1. Clemson’s offense has played brilliantly. Trevor Lawrence has played mistake free in a rivalry game, something that is way bigger than it may sound. He’s delivered timely passes to his receivers and he’s controlled the phase of the game on the offensive side. South Carolina has had no answer for him all night, and the freshman is pretty much doing as he wishes on the field. Travis Etienne has had a huge night as well, and don’t look now, but Adam Choice is about to score his third touchdown of the game (bet you didn’t know Lawrence had just one TD in this game, did you?).
2. Other the other side of the ball, Clemson has just looked rough. Gamecock quarterback Jake Bentley is having the game of his life, but in all actuality, us Clemson fans should’ve seen this coming. After the Texas A&M loss in mid-October, Bentley began playing the best football of his career most likely. He only had 150 yards and a touchdown against Tennessee, but what he showed his fanbase was that he was still the guy, leading South Carolina to a must-win game over the Vols. Bentley really opened it up against Ole Miss, leading the Gamecocks to the win while tossing for 360 yards and a couple touchdowns. He had another good game at Florida the next week (a game they probably should’ve won), and then he tossed four touchdowns against Chattanooga (remember SC lost to The Citadel so this was a big deal). All that to say this: Bentley was due for another good game, and despite his history vs. Clemson, he was going to play well in this game whether we want to admit it or not. He wasn’t the young, inexperienced kid that got walked all over in the Valley two years ago.
3. The compliment to Bentley is free-of-charge, but what isn’t is how poorly Clemson’s defense had played so far in this game. Bentley and the South Carolina offense are without a doubt the best unit on this team, and they were certainly going to challenge Clemson’s defense, but to this capacity? After shutting down some pretty decent quarterbacks in Eric Dungey, Ryan Finley, and Deondre Francois, the Tiger defense felt confident it could shutdown Bentley for the third year in a row. They didn’t. Broken coverages, missed tackles, and delayed play-calling from the sideline allowed South Carolina to do what no other team outside of Texas A&M had done: Expose Clemson’s weaknesses and actually take advantage of them.

I spoke last week about how well Clemson’s defense had played the last six games, especially the second, third, and fourth string guys. On Saturday night, all of them got toasted by Carolina’s offense. I was frustrated; there’s no reason they should’ve put up 600 yards and 5 scores. But all in all, it was needed. Clemson’s defense hadn’t been tested since Syracuse, and more realistically, not since A&M. There were weaknesses that needed to be brought to light, and I for one, would rather those weaknesses be exposed in a game against our rival who has no way of stopping our offense (yeah Clemson is still putting up more points against a healthy SC defense, sorry Gamecock fans) than a game against Tua Tagovailoa in the playoffs. Clemson needed this, whether we like it or not.

Here’s a very offensive fourth quarter review in a game that had already been decided. WARNING: remember Clemson’s still won this game five times in a row and is playing for its fourth straight ACC title this weekend, so don’t let yourself get too frustrated. A wise man once said that a win, is indeed a win.

Do I mind the late score, even if it’s petty? Nah, never take your foot off the gas, especially against your rivals. South Carolina gets the ball back one more time, and it ends with the clock running out and Clemson fans rushing to greet the team at midfield. Offensively, beautiful night. Defensively, it’ll be one to forget, but also a good teaching moment and something that shouldn’t happen again. Chalk up another win for the good guys. Time to go beat Pitt and make another playoff run.