South Carolina football: 3 takeaways from shocking upset of Clemson

Head coach Sean Beamer would have been happy if South Carolina football had had one win against a top-10 team. South Carolina’s defeat of Tennessee was quite the shocker. The Gamecocks, however, had an encore to end their regular season.

South Carolina football traveled to Death Valley East and upset the #8 Tigers, ending Clemson’s slim playoff hopes. Quarterback Spencer Rattler had another solid outing throwing for 289 yards and two touchdowns. It was the defense that was the star of the show for the Gamecocks, however.

The defense held Clemson’s offense to under 350 yards of total offense, forced three turnovers and held the passing game to under 100 yards in the air. The win was South Carolina’s first in seven years. Also, the Gamecocks get the Palmetto Bowl trophy back to Columbia. Here is more about the shocker in Clemson.

3. Spencer Rattler played well again

Saying that this is the Spencer Rattler we’ve waited for is going a bit far. After all, he did win a Big 12 title his first year as a starter at Oklahoma. However, this is the Spencer Rattler Gamecocks fans have waited for. Rattler’s performance was a great encore to his performance against Tennessee.

Rattler threw for 438 yards and six touchdowns against Tennessee and threw for nearly 300 yards and two touchdowns this afternoon. The Gamecocks needed all of those yards, too. They could not run the football against the Tigers’ defense, with just 54 yards on the ground. Head coach Sean Beamer lauded Rattler’s leadership and moxy after the game.

Rattler’s favorite target was James Madison transfer Antwane Wells, Jr., who had 131 receiving yards and two touchdowns, including a 72-yard touchdown catch. Rattler also had completions of 65, 32, and 34 yards, respectively.