Clemson Football: 3 takeaways from Week 14 rivalry win at South Carolina

Clemson football stayed unbeaten to close out the regular season in a dominant performance against South Carolina. What did we learn about the Tigers?

Clemson stayed on track to return to the College Football Playoff for the fifth straight season after they took down South Carolina 38-3 on the in Columbia to close out the regular season. With the win in the Battle for the Palmetto State, the Tigers remained one of just three remaining unbeaten programs heading into the ACC championship game against Virginia.

Clemson took a 24-3 lead into the locker room at halftime, and even that margin belied the gap in talent on the field in Columbia. The Tigers proved themselves the better team in the Palmetto State on the last Saturday of November as they kept up the pressure in the second half of their runaway win.

Dabo Swinney’s squad heads into December with supreme confidence and a virtual stranglehold on a spot in the College Football Playoff as long as they beat the Cavaliers. Everything coalesced in all phases of the game to allow Clemson to head home after a blowout of their rival to close out the regular season.

What can we take away from a complete performance against a Gamecocks squad that won’t go bowling in 2019 but still rendered an upset of Georgia earlier this season? Here are three lessons from the Clemson rout in Columbia in early Week 14 action on Saturday afternoon.