South Carolina-Clemson by the numbers

3

Touchdowns on three trips to the red zone for Clemson, which ruthlessly finished against South Carolina and tore apart the defense’s “bend, don’t break” mentality. The USC offense didn’t make things easy, but after entering the game with a 27 percent touchdown rate in the red zone, the defense wasn’t able to slow Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant and company in the slightest.

7

Interceptions for Jake Bentley in the past four games after four in the season’s first eight games. Bentley looked completely overwhelmed at times Saturday, and he and his receivers had multiple miscomunications that resulted in passes to seemingly no one.

11.8

Yards per completion for Bryant, who kept his team moving and benefited from poor South Carolina tackling, which allowed receivers like Hunter Renfrow to break free for large chunks of yards after the catch, an area the Gamecocks have said is a focus all year.

76

Penalty yards for South Carolina, compared to 126 passing yards and 81 rushing yards, most of which came in garbage time. The Gamecocks entered Saturday’s matchup averaging 32 penalty yards per game but played incredibly sloppy against the Tigers, racking up costly unsportsmanlike conduct penalties that extended Clemson drives. Through three quarters, USC had more penalty yards than either rushing or passing yards.

90

Clemson points in two games against South Carolina under Will Muschamp, while the Gamecocks have 17. That 73-point margin is the largest two-year gap in the rivalry’s history since 1899-1900 and the most points USC has given up to the Tigers since 2003-2004.

Greg Hadley

This story was originally published November 25, 2017 at 11:07 PM with the headline "South Carolina-Clemson by the numbers."