BAW: Clemson players hurled racial slurs at Gamecocks during Palmetto Bowl

CLEMSON -- South Carolina’s performance Saturday night in a 56-7 loss to rival Clemson in the 114th edition of the Palmetto Bowl was ugly on both sides of the ball.

Some things said on the field were uglier.

Gamecocks linebacker Bryson-Allen-Williams, who intercepted his second career pass in the second quarter, told reporters afterwards that Clemson players “disrespected” USC and uttered racial slurs, including the ‘N-word’ on at least one occasion.

“They did a lot of disrespectful things on the field,” Allen-Williams said. “Some of their offensive lineman called us N-words and did a lot of nasty stuff. I know they called one of our defensive linemen the N-word. Coach Muschamp has always talked to us about being a classy program. That’s one thing we’re going to do. It’s irrelevant now because the scoreboard is what is is. But this is going to hurt, it’s going to linger. Deep down, we’re going to feel it.”

Clemson’s disrespect began during pregame activities when some Tiger players warmed up on the Gamecock side of the field.

“You don’t do that against teams,” Allen-Williams said. “But they beat us and they were the better team today.”

Worst part about the lopsided loss? Gamecock players must wait a full year to get revenge.

“We have to wait 365 days to get back at this team,” Allen-Williams said. “But everybody doesn’t want to wait until then. We’ll just have to take our frustration out on (our bowl opponent). But we’ll definitely be ready next year at Williams-Brice. We’ll definitely have this game circled.

“Everybody in our senior class next year is definitely going to remember this game. It’s going to drive us during the offseason.”

When the players focused on the game, Clemson dominated in every facet, outgaining the Gamecocks, 622-218, amassing 41 first downs (USC had just 14) and converting 10-of-15 third down opportunities. Clemson quarterback DeShaun Watson improved his Heisman Trophy chances by completing 26-of-32 passes for 347 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Clemson looked every bit the part of a four-touchdown favorite when the game began.

Allen-Williams’s interception was one of the few bright spots for USC, which fell behind 21-0 at the first quarter and never threatened thereafter.

“We knew they had talented skill players,” Allen-Williams said. “We just didn’t make the plays we needed to make. They made their plays. It was a lack of execution (by us). We were in position to make a lot of plays and just didn’t do it. They were certainly the better team and the score reflected it. They were probably the best team we played.”

Clemson’s final drive of the first half summed up the poor night for the Gamecock defense. After USC punted, the Tigers took possession at their 20-yard line with 47 seconds remaining before intermission. Clemson drove 80 yards in six plays, scoring a touchdown with eight seconds remaining in the half for a 35-0 lead.

Game over.

“You have to stop people,” Allen-Williams said. “You can’t worry about our offense or anybody else. We have to stop them from getting into the end zone. We didn’t play to the level we needed to play to compete against a team like this. We didn’t make plays on the 50-50 balls. DeShaun is a great quarterback and they have great wide receivers. When they put the ball in the air, we have to go make the 50—50 plays.”

Being in position to make plays but failing to do so was “very frustrating,” Allen-Williams said.

“We put in too much time in the offseason and we put in too much time during the season to get to this point and not make those plays,” Allen-Williams said. “You have to execute, especially when you’re playing a goof time like that.”

Allen-Williams has known Watson since junior high school and the two of them talked briefly after the game.

“He did his thing,” Allen-Williams said. “He’s a great player.”

While the Gamecock struggled to get stops (Clemson had 24 first downs and 380 yards in the first half), the USC offense couldn’t get much going. They were blanked in the first half, gaining just 52 yards and scored their lone TD in the third quarter.

The Gamecocks totaled just 218 yards on 58 snaps, averaging a meager 3.76 yards per play. By the second quarter, when USC had demonstrated they couldn’t run the football, Clemson began to blitz relentlessly.

Clemson tallied 3.0 sacks, 8.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 quarterback pressures.

“All night they did a good job of bringing pressures,” Hayden Hurst said. “We weren’t good picking them up. They brought more than we could handle, and you saw what happened. It’s disappointing because we worked our tails off to get ready. But it didn’t work out the way we wanted it at all. Now we’ll get back to work and get ready for the bowl game.”

SEC WEEK 13 RESULTS (Nov. 24-26)

Thur., Nov. 24

LSU 54, Texas A&M 39

Fri., Nov. 25

Missouri 28, Arkansas 24

Sat. Nov. 26

Georgia Tech 28, Georgia 27

Kentucky 41, Louisville 38

Mississippi State 55, Ole Miss 20

Alabama 30, Auburn 12

Vanderbilt 45, Tennessee 34

Clemson 56, South Carolina 7

Florida State 31, Florida 13