It’s Game Day in Columbia where No. 3 Clemson battles South Carolina in the Palmetto Bowl as they look to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.
Location: Williams-Brice Stadium
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
Television: ESPN
Announcers: Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe, Joe Tessitore
2017 Record: Clemson 10-1, South Carolina 8-3
ACC/SEC Record: Clemson 7-1
Series History: Clemson leads 68-42-4
Last Meeting: Clemson won 56-7 in 2016 at Death Valley
Clemson Streaks and stretches
•Clemson has won 41 of its last 44 games dating to 2014.
•The Tigers have won 24 of their last 26 against ACC teams and 13 of 14 away from home against ACC teams.
•Clemson is 14-1 at night over the last two years with seven of the wins coming over top 20 teams. Only four of the 14 night start wins have been at home.
•The Tigers are 13-1 in true road games over the last three years.
•Clemson has won 29 of the last 30 and 46 of its last 49 at home. The 2017 Senior Class finished 27-1 at home, a school record for home wins in a four year period.
•The Tigers have won 41 in a row when rushing for at least 200 yards.
•Clemson has won 22 of the last 23 against the ACC Atlantic with the only loss at Syracuse this year.
•The Tigers have won 52 of their last 54 against unranked teams
Seven Straight 10-Win Season
Clemson now has a streak of seven consecutive seasons of at least 10 wins. That is tied for the sixth longest streak in FBS history and only nine programs have had a streak of at least seven 10-win sasons. The record for
consecutive 10-win seasons is 14 years in a row set by Bobby Bowden’s Florida State Seminoles (1987-00). Alabama is the only other program with an active streak of at least seven straight 10-win seasons.
O’Daniel is Butkus Finalist
Clemson linebacker Dorian O’Daniel has been named one of five finalists for the 2017 Butkus Award. The announcement was made on Monday, ovember 20. The award, named in honor of former Illinois All-American and All-Pro
Dick Butkus, is presented to the top linebacker in college football.
O’Daniel is the fourth Clemson linebacker to be named a finalist for the award, which began in 1985. The previous three Clemson finalists were Levon Kirkland (1990), Ed McDaniel (1991) and Keith Adams (2000). No
Clemson player has won the award.
Clemson vs. South Carolina Series
•This will be meeting number-115 between Clemson and South Carolina and the 109th consecutive year the two schools have met. That is the second longest active streak of consecutive years played in a rivalry in the nation. The only rivalry longer is Minnesota vs. Wisconsin at 110 games. Those two teams also play on November 25.
•The Clemson vs. South Carolina series dates to 1896 and the first year of
football at Clemson, the fourth season for South Carolina. Clemson holds the advantage 68-42-4 since that first meeting in Columbia, a game won by South Carolina, 12-6. Clemson’s first win took place the following year, an 18-6 victory in Columbia.
•Clemson broke a five-game losing steak to South Carolina in 2014 with a 35-17 win at Clemson. Deshaun Watson led the Tigers to the victory with 269 yards passing and 13 yards rushing. Playing with a torn ACL, he
threw for two scores and rushed for two. The Tigers have won two more since then and have a three-game winning streak in the series entering
Saturday’s night’s game.
•Clemson has more wins (68) over South Carolina than any other school and those victories represent 9.4 percent of Clemson’s alltime victory total (727). When Clemson won in 2004 it was Clemson’s 600th all-time win.
Throw out the Record Books?
We always hear the phrase, “You can throw out the record books when these two teams get together.” While there have been some upsets in this series, usually the team with the better record comes away with the victory. The team entering the game with the better overall record has a 22-9-1 record in the series since 1981. That computes to 70 percent over a 36-year period. Four times during that era both teams had the same record.
However, seven of the last 12 years the team with the better overall record entering the game has lost. For the history of the series, Clemson has a 43-18-3 record when it enters the contest with the better record, a 70 winning percentage. Clemson has had the better record in 64 of the 114 previous meetings. The teams have had the same winning percentage entering the game nine times and Clemson has a 6-3 record in those situations.
Thus, Clemson is 50-21-3 (.696) against South Carolina over the years when the Tigers enter the game with at least the same record as South Carolina. Clemson has a 68-42-4 advantage in the series overall, so the Gamecocks have a 21-18-1 record in the series when they enter the game with the better record.
TCI Predictions
Robert – Clemson 31 South Carolina 20
Will – Clemson 38 South Carolina 17
Gavin – Clemson 38 South Carolina 14
Alex – Clemson 38 South Carolina 10