Quick Palmetto State Week Four Review
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Due to a hectic schedule and having a little bit of a cold I have not been able to write a full blog on both of this past week's game from the two big South Carolina schools. However, I am going to try to give you a quick review with a few takeaways.
Clemson was on the road Thursday night and versus Georgia Tech. Clemson was able to jump out to a quick lead on Thursday night and didn't relinquish it the rest of the way as the Clemson defense continued to dominate their opponents. After the first three possessions the Clemson offense had I quickly thought to myself that they have finally awoken the sleeping dragon and that the offense was about to catch fire and take off. However, the offense stalled and only scored 10 offenses points the rest of the way. Thanks to a Georgia Tech safety that gave Clemson two points. The Clemson Tigers won the game 26-7 over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
Takeaway's from the Clemson vs Georgia Tech game.
*Clemson only allowed 124 yards total offensive yards to Georgia Tech. Clemson's defense held Paul Johnson offense to 97 yards rushing in 2015, which was the lowest amount of rushing yards in a single game of the Paul Johnson era at Georgia Tech. This year Clemson only allowed 95 rushing yards to Georgia Tech setting a new single-game low for Paul Johnson. *Clemson's defense sacked Georgia Tech three times and had seven tackles for loss. *Ray-Ray McCloud continues to breakout and looks to be one of Clemson new go to guys. McCloud had 8 catches for 101 yards and 1 rush for 17 yards versus Georgia Tech. *While I still believe he is the best Quarterback in the country. Deshaun Watson has not had the year we all expected him to have. He had thrown at least one pick in three of the first four games. One thing that happens on Thursday night that I have never seen with my own eyes is a team get rewarded with two points after throwing an interception which resulted in a Georgia Tech safety after Georgia Tech intercepted the ball in the end zone and fumbled it after leaving the end zone with the ball being recovered by Georgia Tech in the end zone. I thought that sequence of events was pretty funny. *Deshaun Watson ranks 80th in QBR in the country with a 130.2 rating and 73rd in pass completion percentage with 60 percent completed. *I will officially say after the Georgia Tech game Brent Venables is the great defensive coach of all time when it comes to defending the triple option and probably is the best current defensive coordinator on any coaching staff across the country. *Mike Williams scored his first receiving touchdown since September 5, 2015. He missed all of the last season with a neck injury suffered in the first game of the season. *Ben Boulware returned versus Georgia Tech after being out for the South Carolina State game due to injury. Boulware led the team on Thursday night with 10 tackles. *Thursday night victory was the first time Clemson has beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta since 2003. Clemson was 0-5 in last five trips. |
Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
The Gamecock's had their third road trip in four contest on Saturday in Lexington, Kentucky versus the Kentucky Wildcats. The Wildcats ended up with 17-10 victory over the Gamecocks, which is their 3rd straight over the Gamecocks. After being up 7-3 at halftime. The Gamecock defense failed to stop Kentucky's run game in the 2nd half. The Gamecock defense got no help from the offense as they continue to struggle in every statistical category. The Gamecocks really needed the games at Mississippi State and Kentucky to help the reach bowl eligibility. I still believe the Gamecocks were better than both of those two squads. However, with the youth on offense its just going to be hard now to reach six wins this season needing to win four of the next eight games.
Takeaway's from the South Carolina vs Kentucky game.
* The Gamecock offense has yet to score more than 20 points in a game so far this season. However, the most points that the defense has gave up this season is 27 points and that was to Mississppi State. *Hayden Hurst continues to come to produce for the offense and has been the most consistent thing about the offense this year. Hurst has 19 catches for 212 yards. The Gamecocks used a three tight ends set a lot during the game on Saturday. *The Gamecocks averaged 2.6 yards per carry on offense on Saturday. They are averaging 3.0 yards per carry on the year. *Darius English had three sacks on Saturday versus Kentucky. English leads the team with four sacks on the season. A defensive lineman hasnt had more than two sacks in a game since 2013. The last one to have more than two was Jadeveon Clowney. *JaMarcus King continues to live up to the height and is getting better with every game. King has 19 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and 1 interception. *Brandon McIlwain has thrown 91 passes without an interception. The most passes thrown without an interception since Connor Shaw in 2013. |
