Recap: Gamecocks routed in Palmetto Bowl
South Carolina faced rival Clemson in the 114th meeting of the Palmetto Bowl Saturday night at Memorial Stadium in the Upstate. How did the Gamecocks fare?
FINAL: Clemson 56, South Carolina 7
USC: 0-0-7-0 = 7
CLE: 21-14-14-7 = 56
FIRST QUARTER: The Gamecocks won the toss and took the ball, but when three—and-out on its initial possession. Bentley’s third down pass was batted around and nearly intercepted. Clemson’s first play was a 16-yard run by Wayne Gallman and CU eventually drove into the red zone. The Gamecocks’ red zone defense has been solid all year and they forced the Tigers into a FGA. The kick was blocked as the ball ricocheted harmlessly into the end zone. Ulric Jones was credited with the block. On USC’s first play on its second possession, Bentley overshot Hayden Hurst by 2 or 3 yards on a lob to the left and the pass was intercepted. Clemson struck quickly as Watson and WR Mike Williams hooked up on a 34-yard TD pass. Williams outleaped Jamarcus King in the right corner of the end zone for the score. The Gamecocks went 3-and-out on the third possession, giving them 2 total yards on the first 7 plays. Clemson drove for its second TD when Watson and Williams hooke dup again. Williams caught a pass around the 8-yard line and carried Jamarcus King into the end zone to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead. Looking for a spark, the Gamecocks faked a punt on its fourth possession but Hurst was stonewalled and Clemson took over at the SC 32. Five plays later, Watson found tight end Jordan Leggett in the middle of the end zone for the easy touchdown pass. By the end of the quarter, the Gamecocks had been outgained, 226-7.
END FIRST QTR: Clemson 21, South Carolina 0
SECOND QUARTER: Clemson drove into Gamecocks territory early in the second quarter, but a dropped pass on third down forced CU to punt for the first time. The Gamecocks finally picked up a first down when Bewntley danced around, avoided a sack and hit KC Crosby with a pass. But the Gamecocks couldn’t get another first down and Kelly punted for the fourth time. Clemson drove to the SC 30 when the Gamecocks defense came up with its first big play of the night as Bryson Allen-Williams dove to intercept a tipped pass at the SC 11. The Gamecocks finally picked up a first down on a 15-yard pass to AJ Turner. But the drive stalled and Kelly punted. Scott returned the punt 28 yards to set up Clemson at the SC 45. They drove for a TD as Gallman ran from 8 yards out to give the Tigers a 28-0 lead. The Gamecocks finally drove into CU territory on the ensuing possession as the Tigers were called for pass interference. But Kelly came on to punt the ball away after they couldn’t pick up another first down. Clemson got the ball at the 20 with 47 seconds left in the 2Q and drove 80 yards for a TD as Watson completed four straight passes for 61 yards. Watson hit Williams for a 16-yard TD pass with 8 seconds left in the first half. The Gamecocks went to the locker room trailing 35-0 after being outgained 380-52 in the first half. Nightmare? Yes.
HALFTIME: Clemson 35, South Carolina 0
THIRD QUARTER: Clemson took the second half kickoff and promptly drove 66 yards in 6 plays to take a 42-0 lead. Gallman, who ran for 82 yards in the first half, carried three times for 30 yards to set up a 18-yard TD pass from Watson to Fuller. Muschamp decided to change quarterbacks on USC’s opening possession of the second half as freshman Brandon McIlwain took the reins. His first play was a 19-yard completion to Hurst. When a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty on Clemson moved the ball to the 33, USC ran a trick play with Deebo Samuel catching a lateral from McIlwain and then throwing downfield to Bryan Edwards for USC’s first score of the night. Hardly rattled, Watson led Clemson on a 14-play, 80-yard scoring march that drained 6:39 off the clock. It was Watson’s 6th TD pass of the night. He lofted a pass to Scott in the right corner of the end zone. The Gamecock defender never turned around as Scott caught the pass and tumbled to the ground in the end zone. The teams traded punts before the end of the third quarter.
END THIRD QTR: Clemson 49, South Carolina 7
FOURTH QUARTER: Taking possession in the waning moments of the third quarter, McIlwain led the Gamecocks on a 13-play march into Clemson territory. But a fourth down pass failed to pick up sufficient yardage and CU took over with 10:13 remaining in the 4Q, adding another frustrating chapter to USC’s long night. The rest of the game was virtually garbage time as the clock ran down. Clemson added a TD with 3:07 remaining to eclipse the 50-point mark.
