South Carolina transitions to stopping passing game
According to South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, the Gamecocks have not yet faced an offense as dangerous as the one they will have to stop at Clemson on Saturday.
“I don’t know if they lead the nation in offense, scoring, yards and all that kind of stuff, but without a doubt, they will be the best offensive team we have played against,” Spurrier said. “It will be a big challenge for us, but it should be a heck of a game.”
The stats back Spurrier up, as Clemson has averaged more than 500 yards of offense per game, and the 44.6 points per game it scores is fourth-best in the nation.
The Tigers are coming off a 62-48 win over N.C. State, where they totaled 754 yards of offense. However, the Tigers will face the highest-ranked defense they have seen since a 49-37 loss at Florida State two months ago. USC is the 13th-best defense in the country statistically and the No. 22 pass defense, according to Football Bowl Subdivision standings.
Since that loss, Clemson has earned seven consecutive wins.
USC’s defense will face a tough transition, as it has to focus on a pass-heavy offense after facing a triple-option offense against Wofford last Saturday.
Clemson has the ninth-most passing yards in the country, Wofford is last in the Football Championship Subdivision in passing yards. “We’ve played a lot of football this season,” defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward said. “Hopefully, the grinding that we have had this season prepares us. Clemson is scoring a lot of points and putting up a lot of yards on people. We have a big task ahead of us, but I think the guys will bounce back.”
The Gamecocks hope to improve since the last time they played a pass-first offense. In games against Arkansas and Tennessee, two prominent passing offenses, USC allowed a combined 658 passing yards.
Therefore, the Gamecock defense knows it must be on its toes come Saturday.
“We’ll definitely be doing way more pass skeletons this week,” linebacker Shaq Wilson said. “We are just going to start watching film of Clemson. We kind of know what they do because we play them every year, and the same people are still up there. We’ll get ready for them like we do every other week.”
But senior defensive back Akeem Auguste had a slightly different perspective about USC’s preparation for its rival’s passing offense.
“It ain’t going to be no transition,” Auguste said. “We’ve been waiting.”