No. 1 Clemson 28, SC 10

“I’m sure I’ll have a phone call or a meeting at some point”, Elliott said. That has allowed the Gamecocks to average 85.5 points per game.

Deshaun Watson isn’t giving up on Clemson’s step-by-step approach, not when it’s worked so well.

“He missed some throws”. “We’re going to play until the end”. Elliott totaled 214 yards and two scores on 30 carries.

Clemson is definitely one of four playoff teams with a victory, but it’s anybody’s guess as to whether the Tigers could survive a loss to the now top-10 Tar Heels and remain in the top four.

“Coach Hoke always preaches takeaway”, Gamecocks spur T.J. Gurley said. “This is a game and that’s how we treat it. We try to have fun”.

“Our team fought to the very end”.

All that, however, would change in the second quarter. His second touchdown run of the game put Clemson up 21-3.

Watson’s done about everything for the Tigers after a slow September start. The Tiger defense forced a quick three-and-out and Watson followed with a 55-yard strike to Cain to extend the lead to 14-0.

To say Watson has been special for the Tigers would be fairly accurate and, if you ask Dabo Swinney, he’d agree with you.

145 First downs have been given up by the Clemson defense this season, the fewest in the nation. “I’m just saying this league is as good as any out there”. Whether the offense can get anything going might decide this game. The Tigers often rely on big plays to score, but didn’t get a ton against SC.

SC could find a way to circle the wagons, rally the troops and pull off the stunner, but they really are considerably worse on all three phases of the game.

Smith recalls how hard the 1981 Gamecocks made it for Tigers – and he knows this current team understands it won’t be a walk in the park. “We pressured him a couple of times on third down”.

But Clemson wouldn’t go away. The Heisman Trophy candidate capping a 60-yard drive with his third rushing touchdown of the game. “Just for us alone the last four or five years we have had the opportunity to play and beat Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame”. This time, Orth found Pharoh Cooper on a slant route and Cooper took it the distance.

As a team, Ohio State out-rushed the Wolverines 371-57, pounding out an even seven yards a carry while limiting MI to 2.28.

North Carolina was No. 1 for a week in 1948 when it finished 9-1-1 and ended No. 3. Shon Carson scored from one yard out and Lorenzo Nunez added a two-point conversion to make the score 28-25. If Clemson comes out and establishes an early advantage with big plays that demoralize the Gamecocks, it will be a long day. “That’s just the kind of player that he is”. Watson has learned to get a number of his teammates involved as there are five players with at least 23 catches with WR Artavis Scott as the team’s leader in catches and yards. Greg Huegel’s extra point attempt, however, would fail.