USC-Clemson report card: Offense earns it. How good can a 21-point loss be?
Coming off South Carolina’s 56-35 loss to Clemson, it’s time to grade the Gamecocks.
Quarterback
Were there flaws? Yes, namely an interception and a couple of missed chances in the red zone. Still, a school record for passing yards from Jake Bentley, 300-plus in the first half, against the best defense in the land? That’s good. Grade: A
Running backs
The group made the numbers look pretty good after the game was out of reach, but USC couldn’t get much going on. Before halftime South Carolina had nine rushes for 12 yards, though Mon Denson finished with 62 yards, Rico Dowdle with 29. Grade: D+
Wide receivers
Sophomore Shi Smith carried things early with 78 first-quarter yards, and Deebo Samuel had a career-high 210. Overall they gave USC what it needed on a cold night. Grade: A
Tight ends
Kiel Pollard posted the best game of his career with a 67-yard touchdown and 94 yards total. The tight ends were a factor through the air, though USC’s blocking in the run had some issues. Grade: A-
Offensive line
Bentley got thrown for a loss a few times, but considering how much he threw the ball and the talent Clemson has, it could’ve been worse. There wasn’t much movement in the run game. Grade: B+
Defensive line
Avoids an F because it was without its top three edge guys and saw its top two inside guys miss time. Still, there were no sacks, one tackle for loss and the Tigers got surge nearly every time. One bright spot was freshman tackle Rick Sandidge, who had seven tackles, one for loss. Grade: D-
Linebackers
The group has been thin all year, was forced to play more with three guys because of the secondary and was down to freshmen much of the game. Still, they couldn’t corral Clemson on the ground, giving up 6.4 yards per carry despite only one run longer than 24 yards. Grade: F
Secondary
Another group banged up beyond all recognition. They had five non-walk-on or deep, deep reserve players. They didn’t get tagged for any massive plays and at least got offensive player on the ground, but they also allowed 13 gains between 15 and 34 yards. Grade: D
Special teams
There wasn’t much in the way of returns, though all but one kick that was returned was to at least the 25. Joseph Charlton had 50 net yards per punt, but overall a quiet day from the group. Grade: C+
Overall
It’s hard to give much of a good mark to a 21-point loss with a historically bad defensive performance, but considering the shape the roster is in, it was almost as good as it could’ve been. A team that hadn’t scored a first-half point in the past two meetings stuck with Clemson early before the talent gap became too much. Grade: C-