Cooper continues to impress
Before South Carolina took the field to do battle with the Clemson Tigers, the Gamecocks honored their seniors and players who are deciding whether or not to declare for the NFL Draft.
Connor Shaw, Jadeveon Clowney, Kelcy Quarles and Victor Hampton are among some of the players who won’t play in Williams-Brice Stadium again for the Gamecocks. Those players left a tremendous impact on the program.
Shaw’s perfect 17-0 home record puts him in discussion as one of the greats at South Carolina.
“Connor Shaw, oh man, best quarterback in school history,” head coach Steve Spurrier said. “He’s probably the difference maker — completely for us — running the ball, throwing the ball. He had a sensational day.”
Clowney, who appears to be locked in as one of the top NFL Draft prospects, ended his career at South Carolina with a perfect 3-0 record against the Tigers. At Clemson last season, Clowney said he would never lose a game to Clemson, and sure enough, the junior defensive end accomplished that goal.
Quarles and Hampton sounded sure that they would be forgoing their senior seasons and will test their draft stock. Hampton told reporters after the game he is “pretty much” sure he will enter the NFL Draft. Quarles sounded equally as sure.
“I’m going to turn in my draft grade; if it’s looking like I want it to look, or what I expect (it) to, I’ll be gone,” Quarles said. “But if not, I’m just going to come back and try to improve it. Hopefully, after this game it’s where I want it to be, and [we’re] just going to go from there.”
Wildcat
On Saturday, Spurrier brought back the wildcat offense like he did in 2009 against Clemson when Stephon Gilmore used it to defeat the Tigers 34-17.
This time around, freshman wide receiver Pharoh Cooper was the catalyst for the Gamecocks. The wildcat led by Cooper was beyond successful Saturday night. Cooper completed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Wilds, and ran the ball four times for 18 yards.
“That kid’s a ball player,” Spurrier said, “He’s going to be really something before he leaves here. True freshman — he can run kick-offs, punts, run out of the backfield, catch passes, throw passes — he’s an all-around ball player.”
Cooper’s deflected praise for the formation to his offensive line.
“The wildcat worked fairly well tonight, the linemen did a great job. I mean, they don’t get much as much credit as they should,” Cooper said.
Special Teams
Winning the turnover battle usually dictates the outcome of a football game, and on Saturday night, it did exactly that.
Two costly fumbles by Clemson junior wide receiver Adam Humphries on punt returns placed the Gamecocks in good position to win.
The first muffed punt came in the first half and kept a Gamecock drive going after having it halted by Clemson’s defense in South Carolina territory. The second ensured South Carolina’s fifth straight victory over its in-state rival.
“When we punted him the ball and the guy fumbled it on the sideline, I felt like we had it in the bag then,” Clowney said.