South Carolina +11.5 3.3% play
I can not guarantee that Clemson is going to have max effort here today. Despite Dabo Swinney being that master motivator, I'm not sure how he will be able to get his team completely up for this. After NC State had a miraculous come back yesterday it officially eliminated Clemson from the ACC Championship, and really this game is just for bowl positioning, and you have to think it has some type of impact for a team that is used to playing for Championships. We see this all the time with Alabama.
I CAN GUARANTEE that South Carolina will come with effort. We see it all the time no matter the spot in the game. This team cares, and they play for Beamer. Clemson is back, by scoring 30+ over their last 4 games is a bit deceiving. For one They got their on a last minute fumble from toss backs vs. Florida State. The other three games were against Uconn, Louisville, and Wake Forest. 3 of the 4 games were at home, and none have a top 50 defense in any category, and Uconn and Wake Forest are well outside the 50. South Carolina has a very strong DL, which should be able to stop a running game that recently started to click for Clemson, but their secondary is great ranking 14th in epa, and I find it hard to believe that Clemson will get margin here. They are still a banged up offense and will be without WR Ngata, and Ross, and I don't think they have motivation to get margin here either. Swinney is good friends with Beamer, and while that doesn't mean anything typically I think if it's late and Clemson has a chance to punch the ball in the end zone that won't happen.
South Carolina's offense is the big issue here, but since Jason Brown took over he has been a difference maker. The stats won't amaze you, but he's been more accurate and has been able to open up the playbook a bit with throws further than 10 yards down the field. IF any unit is going to suffer from "not" getting to the Conference Championship, I believe it to be the defense of Clemson. South Carolina will have a sell out for the game, it's at night. Clemson has not played as well on the road rushing for 1.5 ypc less, and giving up 2.5 ypc more.
