Staff picks: South Carolina-Clemson, best of rivalry week

The final week of the regular season is here and the final version of the South Carolina picks from GamecockCentral are at hand.

The Gamecocks are coming off their biggest win of the Shane Beamer era, a dominating victory over Tennessee, and now turn their attention to the rivalry game against Clemson.

It’s a tall order, knocking off two top-10 teams in consecutive weeks, but here’s how the GamecockCentral staff sees the game going.

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Chris Clark: For a litany of reasons, the Gamecocks’ offensive performance against Tennessee will not be replicable. However, this team has gained confidence on that side of the ball and may have found a formula that clicks. Here’s to thinking that South Carolina plays better defensively than it did last season against the Tigers and that Spencer Rattler and his receivers make enough big plays to spring a thrilling upset. South Carolina 28, Clemson 24.

Terry Ford: If this game was at Wiiliams-Brice I might actually pick the Gamecocks. I think Carolina has a legit shot…if the offense stays creative and aggressive. USC O-Line and D-Line are the key to the game. Clemson 30, South Carolina 27.

Pearson Fowler: Carolina can’t quite keep the magic from last week alive. Clemson’s defensive line will give Rattler less time to throw and Carolina run defense issues will matter more in a closer game than last week. Gamecocks still cover, and the Tennessee win still gives Shane Beamer a chance at an 8-win season in a bowl. Clemson 31, South Carolina 21.

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Joe Macheca: Picking the upset here because why not. After last week this team has proved nobody knows what the heck is going to happen. I think Clemson matches up so similar to Tennessee that the confidence has to be riding high knowing the game plan is similar. Clemson looked bad at Notre Dame, although it was a tough environment. South Carolina always plays up to its competition in Death Valley and this year should be no different. Also with the rain I think it levels the playing field even more. South Carolina 27, Clemson 21.

Wes Mitchell: It’s time for the streak to end. South Carolina 29, Clemson 28.

Jay Phillips: Tough to expect another huge offensive showing, but Carolina heads to Death Valley with newfound confidence. Clemson, like UT, still has a shot at the CFP.  Maybe closer than we believed a few weeks ago, but I still expect a Clemson win. Clemson 34, South Carolina 24.

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Michael Sauls: If South Carolina’s offense plays anywhere near as well as it did against Tennessee they will win and I’ll gladly eat crow on this score prediction. I do think Clemson has a much better defense than the Vols and that’ll ultimately be the deciding factor in the game. I think the Gamecocks get off to a hot start because we’ve seen how slow Clemson is when it has a noon kickoff. But like all of Clemson’s close noon games this year, they’ll find a way to come back late and win it. Clemson 35, South Carolina 30.

Kendall Smith: It’s my last Clemson/Carolina game, so I’m going to be a little crazy. The pressure is on the Tigers to show up because this game could be the difference between making the College Football Playoff and not. I think DJ struggles in this game and South Carolina stuns the Tigers in a close one. South Carolina 21, Clemson 17. 

Collyn Taylor: The question becomes: was last week the exception or the rule offensively? If it was the rule, then South Carolina has a legitimate chance at taking down the Tigers. Clemson’s secondary hasn’t been great this year and the Tiger offense has sputtered at times. If it’s the exception, the Gamecocks will struggle to move the ball. Regardless, this one won’t be as high-scoring as last week. Clemson forces some offensive miscues and South Carolina loses but covers. I could very much see the Gamecocks winning this one but don’t feel steadfast enough to pick it. Clemson 27, South Carolina 21.

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Mike Uva: Last week I went 8-1 with my picks. That one pick I was wrong… USC beating Tennessee. Because of that, I’m gonna stick to the same formula and go with Clemson this week but I’ll once again have the Gamecocks covering. Clemson 24, South Carolina 20.

Jack Veltri: Clemson has owned the Palmetto Bowl for nearly a decade. South Carolina hasn’t been on the same level since its last win in 2013. But after last Saturday, I think the Gamecocks have their best chance to win. The Tigers run the ball very well and are still great defensively, but I think South Carolina has been awoken. I was wrong about this team last week, picking them to lose by 49 points. I’m not doing that again. I believe Clemson will have to settle for the Orange Bowl after the Gamecocks pull off another upset — this time in Death Valley. South Carolina 31, Clemson 28. 

Picker	Michigan at Ohio State	Tulane at Cincinnati	Notre Dame at Southern Cal	Oregon at Oregon State	NC State at UNC	Auburn at Alabama	Arkansas at Missouri	Florida at Florida State
Chris Clark (70-37)	Michigan	Cincinnati	Southern Cal	Oregon	UNC	Alabama	Arkansas	Florida State
Terry Ford (69-38)	Ohio State	Cincinnati	Southern Cal	Oregon State	UNC	Alabama	Missouri	Florida
Pearson Fowler (61-46)	Michigan	Cincinnati	Southern Cal	Oregon	UNC	Alabama	Arkansas	Florida State
Joe Macheca (58-31)	Michigan	Tulane	Notre Dame	Oregon	UNC	Alabama	Missouri	Florida
Wes Mitchell (69-38)	Ohio State	Cincinnati	Notre Dame	Oregon	NC State	Alabama	Missouri	Florida State
Jay Phillips (71-36)	Michigan	Cincinnati	Southern Cal	Oregon	UNC	Alabama	Arkansas	Florida State
Michael Sauls (60-47)	Ohio State	Tulane	Notre Dame	Oregon	NC State	Alabama	Arkansas	Florida State
Kendall Smith (64-43)	Ohio State	Cincinnati	Southern Cal	Oregon	UNC	Alabama	Arkansas	Florida State
Collyn Taylor (66-41)	Ohio State	Tulane	Southern Cal	Oregon	UNC	Alabama	Missouri	Florida
Mike Uva (75-32)	Ohio State	Tulane	Southern Cal	Oregon	UNC	Alabama	Arkansas	Florida State
Jack Veltri (71-36)	Ohio State	Cincinnati	Notre Dame	Oregon	UNC	Alabama	Arkansas	Florida State

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