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Score
TeamScore
South Carolina 27
Clemson 17
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PlayerUnit

Game Summary
No Connor Shaw? No Marcus Lattimore? No problem! The #13 Gamecocks rolled into Clemson without their starting quarterback and their superstar running back. The #12 Tigers certainly looked like the favorites, but soph Dylan Thompson stepped in and passed for 310 yards and 3 touchdowns and the defense had stretches of dominance in a 27-17 win. Clemson drew first blood, ripping off an 85 yard drive on their second possession, finishing it with a 3-yard touchdown run by Tajh Boyd. The Gamecocks stunned the Clemson faithful by countering immediately. Bruce Ellington took the ensuing kickoff back 37 yards and Thompson hit Ace Sanders, Justice Cunningham and then Sanders again to move to the Tiger 25. Kenny Miles added runs of 11 and 1 yard, then Thompson found Ellington for a 13-yard touchdown. Adam Yates' extra point tied the game at seven. It took Clemson just two plays to score again, a 32-yard run by Roderick McDowell, then a 43-yard touchdown pass from Boyd to DeAndre Hopkins. The only other points of the first half came on a 29-yard field goal by Yates with just over two minutes left. The score stood at 14-10 as the Gamecocks took over at the start of the third and two big plays turned the game around. From the USC 31 Thompson hooked up with Nick Jones for a 31-yard pass, then he found Ace Sanders for a 34-yard touchdown. Carolina would never trail again. A Jadeveon Clowney sack for a 10-yard loss shut down the next Clemson possession and USC used the good field position to add a 43-yard field goal from Yates to make 20-14. With just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter Chandler Catanzaro made a field goal to cut it to 20-17. Thompson's only real mistake of the game came on the first possession of the fourth quarter when he was picked off in the end zone, but Brison Williams then intercepted a Boyd pass to get the ball right back. Another pivotal play then occurred, as with 3rd and 19 at the Tiger 26 Thompson scrambled away from a rush and picked up 20 yards, just enough to keep the drive alive. He then connected with Ellington again, this time for a six yard touchdown and a 27-17 lead. The game ended perfectly, as Clowney sacked Boyd on the final play, giving him 4.5 sacks on the day. The win made Steve Spurrier the winningest head coach in South Carolina football history. ;
Scoring Plays
QuarterGame TimeTeamSC ScoreOpp ScorePlay
1 05:27 CLM 0 7 Tajh Boyd, 3-yd run (Chandler Catanzaro kick)
1 01:46 USC 7 7 Bruce Ellington, 13-yd pass from Dylan Thompson (Adam Yates kick)
1 01:22 CLM 7 14 DeAndre Hopkins, 43-yd pass from Tajh Boyd (Chandler Catanzaro kick)
2 02:40 USC 10 14 Adam Yates, 29-yd field goal
3 11:48 USC 17 14 Ace Sanders, 34-yd pass from Dylan Thompson (Adam Yates kick)
3 06:56 USC 20 14 Adam Yates, 43-yd field goal
3 05:07 CLM 20 17 Chander Catanzaro, 37-yd field goal
4 04:17 USC 27 17 Bruce Ellington, 6-yd pass from Dylan Thompson (Adam Yates kick)
Team Stats
USCClemson
First Downs 26 18
Rush Att 45 35
Rush Yds 134 145
Rush Avg 3.0 4.1
Pass Att-Com-Int 41 - 23 - 1 24 - 11 - 2
Comp. Pct 56.1 45.8
Pass Yds 310 183
Yds Per Att 7.56 7.63
Penalties 12 . 110 7 . 59
USC Rushing
PlayerAttYdsAvgTD
Kenny Miles 16 45 2.8 0
Mike Davis 12 43 3.6 0
Dylan Thompson 14 38 2.7 0
Bruce Ellington 2 5 2.5 0
Ace Sanders 1 3 3.0 0
Clemson Rushing
PlayerAttYdsAvgTD
USC Passing
PlayerAttComYdsYPATDInt
Dylan Thompson 41 23 310 7.6 3 1
Clemson Passing
PlayerAttComYdsYPATDInt
USC Receiving
PlayerRecTrgtCom%YdsBPAvg34DTrgt34DConvTD
Bruce Ellington 7 7 100.0 72 1 10.3 2 2 2
Ace Sanders 6 13 46.2 119 3 19.8 4 1 1
Nick Jones 4 7 57.1 45 1 11.3 2 1 0
Kenny Miles 3 4 75.0 39 1 13.0 2 2 0
Justice Cunningham 2 4 50.0 26 1 13.0 1 1 0
Mike Davis 1 1 100.0 9 0 9.0 1 1 0
Clemson Receiving
PlayerRecYdsInt
Kickoff Returns
PlayerKRYdsTD
Bruce Ellington 3 70 0
Victor Hampton 1 25 0
Punt Returns
PlayerPRYdsTD
Ace Sanders 1 30 0
Punting
PlayerPuntsYdsAvgNet YdsNet AvgIn20TBLong
Tyler Hull 5 188 37.6 188 37.6 1 1 50
Game Defense
PlayerTKLTFLSKFFFRPBUQBHIPLCDPLRZPLSPP
Jadeveon Clowney 7 4.5 4.5 0 0 0 1 7 0 0 18.18
D.J. Swearinger 5 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.5
Shaq Wilson 5 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3.33
Devonte Holloman 4 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 8
Quin Smith 4 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3.33
Devin Taylor 4 0.5 0.5 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 7.32
Reginald Bowens 3 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1.83
Aldrick Fordham 3 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2.65
Byron Jerideau 3 0.5 0.5 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 5.58
Brison Williams 3 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 7.42
Victor Hampton 2 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Akeem Auguste 1 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.5
Damario Jeffery 1 1.0 0.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2
J.T. Surratt 1 0.5 0.5 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2.75
Chaz Sutton 1 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1.67
Game Interceptions
PlayerIntYdsTD
Brison Williams 1 8 0
Devonte Holloman 1 0 0
Game Participation (Starters in All Caps)
PlayerPos
Rory (Busta) Anderson
AKEEM AUGUSTE CB2
REGINALD BOWENS MLB
K.J. Brent
Kaleb Broome
Damiere Byrd
A.J. CANN LG
JADEVEON CLOWNEY DE2
Cedrick Cooper
JUSTICE CUNNINGHAM TE
Mike Davis
BRUCE ELLINGTON WR2
Aldrick Fordham
Qua Gilchrist
Sharrod Golightly
VICTOR HAMPTON CB1
Mason Harris
DEVONTE HOLLOMAN SPUR
Tyler Hull
Walker Inabinet
Damario Jeffery
BYRON JERIDEAU DT1
T.J. JOHNSON C
NICK JONES WR3
Jimmy Legree
Kaiwan Lewis
Kadetrix Marcus
Connor McLaurin
KENNY MILES TB
D.L. Moore
RONALD PATRICK RG
KELCY QUARLES DT2
Sidney Rhodes
COREY ROBINSON LT
Shaq Roland
ACE SANDERS WR1
Jared Shaw
BRANDON SHELL RT
Quin Smith
Will Sport
Seth Strickland
J.T. Surratt
Chaz Sutton
D.J. SWEARINGER FS
DEVIN TAYLOR DE1
DYLAN THOMPSON QB
BRISON WILLIAMS SS
SHAQ WILSON WLB
Adam Yates