Clemson Football: 3 takeaways from rivalry win over South Carolina

Clemson football had its way with in-state rival South Carolina in Week 13 and improved to 12-0. What’d we learn from the Tigers’ big win?

South Carolina put up quite the fight early on, but it was all Clemson late as the Tigers knocked off their in-state rival, 56-35.

With the victory, Clemson has locked up an undefeated regular season and there’s an overwhelming chance it will head into the playoff with a 13-0 mark and an ACC title. Beating Pittsburgh won’t exactly be a walk in the park, but the Tigers are playing at an incredibly high level right now.

Dabo Swinney may not have made too many friends on the Gamecocks’ side of the field with a late touchdown, but the rivalry will rage on.

What’d we learn from the Tigers’ blowout win over South Carolina?

3. Clemson defense needs to tighten up — and quickly

Allowing over 500 passing yards against South Carolina’s Jake Bentley isn’t exactly the best look for this defense. The Tigers had one of the nation’s best defense coming in.

The junior quarterback had the best game of his career, passing for 510 yards and five touchdowns with just one interception.

The Clemson run defense remained red-hot, allowing just 90 total yards on 25 carries, but the passing defense looked as vulnerable as it ever has. Going into the ACC title game and a potential playoff berth, the last thing the Tigers want to do is look like Oklahoma on the defensive side of the ball.

Sure, this is probably just an outlier for this defense, but any time you see your team surrender 600 total yards, you have to be somewhat concerned.

The Tigers need to tighten up — and fast.