Game Balls: Clemson

SOUTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL

The defense gave up 744 yards of offense, so nobody gets a game ball on that side of the ball. But there were some strong performances in the other two phases of the game.

Jake Bentley

Outside of the interception at the end of the first half, Bentley played about as well as he possibly could have. He stood in against the pass rush and repeatedly delivered completion right before getting crushed. Bentley finished with a career-high 510 yards and five touchdowns. His passing total was the most ever by a Gamecock, and he now has the third-most career passing touchdowns with 51.

Also see: What Will Muschamp said after the game

Deebo Samuel

Samuel is making the final games of his career count. He had his third straight 100-yard receiving game, finishing with career-highs of 210 yards and three touchdowns on ten receptions. Samuel passed Pharoh Cooper for tenth place on the career receptions charts moved in to the top ten in career receiving yards, and tied Zola Davis for fifth with eight career 100-yard receiving games.

Shi Smith

Smith had a career-high seven receptions in the first quarter alone, as Clemson focused on Samuel and Bryan Edwards. That changed and Clemson paid him a lot of attention for the rest of the game. Still, Smith finished with nine catches for 109 yards and a touchdown, his second career 100-yard receiving game.

Also see: Josh Low's instant analysis

Joseph Charlton

Charlton had another outstanding day punting the ball. He punted three times for an average of fifty yards, with one downed inside the 20.