{"id":69412,"date":"2024-12-01T08:30:53","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T13:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=69412"},"modified":"2024-12-01T08:50:53","modified_gmt":"2024-12-01T13:50:53","slug":"gamecocks-vs-clemson-takeaways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/12\/01\/gamecocks-vs-clemson-takeaways\/","title":{"rendered":"Gamecocks vs Clemson Takeaways"},"content":{"rendered":"

The South Carolina Gamecocks picked up the biggest win of the Shane Beamer<\/a> era on Saturday, defeating archrival Clemson on the road in Death Valley. The Gamecocks went into one of the most hostile road environments in all of college football and left with a program-defining 17-14 victory.<\/span><\/p>\n

This marks the second time Carolina has beaten Clemson on the road in the past three seasons, dashing their playoff hopes in the process. However, the Gamecocks may have gained more than bragging rights this time. There\u2019s a really good shot they played themselves into the playoff themselves. With so much to unpack from South Carolina\u2019s massive rivalry week win, let\u2019s <\/span>take a<\/span> look at the key takeaways.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sellers’ Finest Moment Yet<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

With so much on the line for the Gamecocks, it\u2019s only fitting their budding superstar at quarterback shined the brightest. LaNorris Sellers<\/a> put the entire offense on his back against Clemson, and if anything, that\u2019s an understatement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sellers recorded 330 of Carolina\u2019s 431 yards and both of their touchdowns. Both scores were on long runs where he shredded the Tiger\u2019s defense en route to the end zone. The second came with just over a minute left in regulation and <\/span>was<\/span> the deciding score.<\/span><\/p>\n

What we\u2019ve seen from Sellers over the past several weeks has been <\/span>nothing short of<\/span> extraordinary. The wide-eyed freshman we saw in week one who struggled against Old Dominion has blossomed into one of the most electric players in the country. While few would disagree with this assessment of the Gamecocks\u2019 young quarterback, Beamer took things a step further.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLaNorris Sellers is the best player in the country,\u201d Beamer said. \u201cAll you media people that vote on the Heisman if you\u2019re not voting for that guy, for in the mix for the Heisman Trophy, you\u2019re out of your minds. <\/span>Like, name a player in the country that\u2019s done more than that kid has this year, particularly today, in the environments that he\u2019s done it in<\/span>, <\/span>in the moments that he\u2019s done it in.<\/span> I mean, he put our team on his back today.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While Beamer\u2019s assessment may have been a tad bit hyperbolic, there\u2019s no denying the underlying sentiment. Sellers\u2019 play over the past few weeks has elevated him into the upper echelon of the sport. The Heisman may not be a realistic goal this season, but it could become one <\/span>in the very near future<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Carolina’s Defense Comes Through<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Gamecocks normally stout defense struggled at times against the Tigers but came up big when it mattered most. Coming into the day, Clemson\u2019s high-flying offense was averaging 37.6 points and 470 yards per game. Both were ranked top 10 in the nation, and many wondered if Carolina would be able to slow them down.<\/span><\/p>\n

While Clemson had no trouble moving the ball, picking up 419 total yards, they were largely kept out of the endzone. This \u201cbend but don\u2019t break\u201d philosophy combined with two timely turnovers ultimately carried the Gamecocks over the finish line. Beamer touched on the resiliency his team possesses, and why it\u2019s been so crucial to their success.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, that\u2019s one thing that we talked about<\/span>, <\/span>was our<\/span> guys are battle-tested,\u201d Beamer said.<\/span> \u201cWe knew that just get it to the fourth quarter, that we are battle tested because of some of the games and environments that we\u2019ve been in, and we\u2019re built for this, and that\u2019s what we talked about, and you saw it out there as well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Battled tested is the perfect way to describe the Gamecocks, and these past six games are the proof. Those early heartbreaking losses to LSU and Alabama have <\/span>clearly<\/span> hardened this team, particularly on defense. We may not know what the postseason holds for Carolina yet, but there\u2019s no question <\/span>that they\u2019ll<\/span> be ready for whatever comes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Playoff Hopes Remain Alive<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Improbable as it may have seemed at midseason, South Carolina has a real argument for a spot in the College Football Playoffs. There\u2019s arguably no hotter team in the country, they have several quality wins, and outside of Ole Miss, their other two losses were by one possession to ranked opponents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beamer\u2019s team is far from a <\/span>shoo-in<\/span> for one of the at-large bids <\/span>though. There are several<\/span> other teams with similar resumes <\/span>who<\/span> will be vying to get in as well.<\/span> All <\/span>that this<\/span> means is that the Gamecocks have laid out an extremely compelling case to the committee. Beamer laid out that case in his post-game presser following the win.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI <\/span>do<\/span> believe we deserve a spot in the 12-team playoff,\u201d Beamer said. \u201cI get it. The committee has a <\/span>tough job. They have to choose the 12 best teams. We got three losses. I understand that, but it\u2019s hard for me to sit there and say that we\u2019re not one of the 12 best teams in the country. If the committee\u2019s job is to pick the 12 best teams, I don\u2019t know of any team that would be excited about having to play this team the way that we\u2019re playing right now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The three losses on Carolina\u2019s resume are certain to give some committee members pause. That <\/span>being<\/span> said, it\u2019s hard to argue with the rest of the case Beamer laid out. Only time will tell if the Gamecocks make the final 12, but regardless of the outcome they\u2019ve come farther than just about anybody could have imagined. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Gamecocks
Photo courtesy: Ken Ruinard-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The South Carolina Gamecocks picked up the biggest win of the Shane Beamer era on Saturday, defeating archrival Clemson on the road in Death Valley. The Gamecocks went into one of the most hostile road environments in all of college football and left with a program-defining 17-14 victory. This marks the second time Carolina has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5264,"featured_media":69416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[34221,36,149,80],"class_list":["post-69412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-sec","tag-2024-college-football-playoff-projections","tag-clemson-tigers","tag-shane-beamer","tag-south-carolina-gamecocks"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5264"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}