Clemson made up for its disappointing 2025 season with a win on the road against rival South Carolina. The Tigers keep the visiting teams’ win streak alive in the Palmetto Bowl with the 28-14 win in Williams-Brice Stadium. The game went back and forth until Clemson was able to force a couple of turnovers late in the final quarter.
This gives the Tigers four straight wins to close the regular season. It took a while for this team to figure things out, but they finally found a spark to end the season. A large part of that is dedicated to their improved run game.
Run Game Makes the Difference
Early in the season, Dabo Swinney voiced his frustrations with how quickly Garrett Riley gets away from the run game. Seeing how far Adam Randall has come in his position change to running back, it’s easy to see why Swinney wanted more run plays.
The offensive staff elected to lean on the run against South Carolina more than they have in any other game this season. It helped the offense move the ball better throughout the game. Clemson had 415 yards of total offense against the Gamecocks. Randall himself had 24 carries for 102 yards and a touchdown. This was his second game with over 100 yards rushing against Power Four competition. It made the difference in the game.
The Tigers’ ability to run the ball effectively kept them ahead of the sticks. This gave them more manageable third-down situations. Clemson converted on seven third downs because of this, compared to the Gamecocks, who converted just one. That kept the ball moving and didn’t allow South Carolina’s offense to play with many short fields. The Tigers’ defense made sure to take full advantage of the field position battle throughout the game.
Defense Wrecks the Game
The Clemson defense played much better against LaNorris Sellers compared to last season. What made the difference was that the Tigers were able to tackle Sellers this year.
Last season, Sellers ran for over 100 yards on the Clemson defense. This year, the Tigers held him to just two yards on the ground. He did have 381 yards passing, which mostly came from his two touchdown passes. Sellers had touchdown passes of 53 yards and 74 yards. Besides those two plays, Tom Allen’s defense kept Sellers from taking over the game.
The Tigers’ defense sacked Sellers five times, and Ricardo Jones picked him off twice. Jones returned the second interception for the touchdown that gave Clemson its two-score lead. Will Heldt and TJ Parker caused a ton of disruption by winning the edges on the line of scrimmage. They finished with a combined four-and-a-half sacks and six-and-a-half tackles for loss.
This unit improved a lot as the season progressed, after many disappointing performances early on.
Clemson Finishes the Season Strong
After a 3-5 start to the season, Clemson wins four straight to end the season 7-5 overall. It’s a far cry from what was expected from this team coming into the season. But the finish shows that the culture is still strong.
The end of this season has given fans much to look forward to as they try to forget about 2025. Swinney’s program may not need a complete overhaul, but there are many changes expected to come in the offseason. Before that, the Tigers must first get through the early signing period this week and a bowl game next month.
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