Beat writer breakdown: Previewing and hyping up the Palmetto Bowl between No. 3 Clemson and South Carolina (2024)

Dabo Swinney and Will Muschamp will meet Saturday for the fourth time, which can mean only one thing: It’s rivalry week for the No. 3 Tigers and the Gameco*cks, a showdown that every year brings its own set of emotions.

Things already got a little chippy between both sides earlier this week, when South Carolina play-by-play announcer Todd Ellis suggested that one of Clemson’s pregame routines, its “Walk of Champions,” puts Gameco*cks fans “in a tough position” and can be provoking to South Carolina’s student section. The walk, which Clemson has done every game home and away at least since Swinney arrived at Clemson in 2003, features the Tigers locking arms around the 20-yard line and walking into the end zone together. South Carolina’s student section faces that end zone.

“I think that’s ridiculous; 2015, 2013, 2011, 2009, 2007, (2005) — that’s what Clemson’s done for the 17 years that I’ve been here, and again, it’s just ridiculous,” Swinney said of Ellis’ comments before he addressed objects being thrown onto the field in 2017. “It’s not any type of taunting. It’s a unity thing for our team. It’s something we do every single game.

“The bottom line is, you can yell and scream and holler. I think that’s just part of it. But you start throwing things at people, it’s all fun and games until somebody gets their eye knocked out. That’s why I got frustrated a couple of years ago and really lost my cool, got a penalty. … I know a bunch of great South Carolina people. I’ve got friends that are South Carolina people. It’s not representative of who they are. It’s just a few people that just don’t handle themselves the right way.”

While Swinney’s Tigers are playing for College Football Playoff hopes that are very much alive, Muschamp’s bunch has had a trying year. A win by the Gameco*cks, though, could go a long way in knocking Clemson out of the Playoff. To break it all down, The Athletic’s Josh Kendall and Grace Raynor are here. Josh has covered the Gameco*cks for the entire decade, while Grace has covered the Tigers since midway through the 2016 season.

Josh Kendall: Poor Todd can’t seem to keep himself out of the middle of these things. It was Ellis’ ad-lib in 2011 that prompted one of the best rants in recent college football memory when Swinney thought Steve Spurrier had said “at least we aren’t Clemson.” It’s hard to overstate how much Gameco*cks fans miss those days. Clemson has now matched the five-game winning streak that South Carolina took so much pride in from 2009-13, and there’s honestly no reason to think the Tigers aren’t about to make it six in a row.

For all the attention being paid this week to Clemson’s pregame walk and how the South Carolina crowd will react, I think the more interesting crowd question is this: How many Clemson fans will be in attendance? The 5,000 or so Appalachian State fans who came to Columbia two weeks ago were loud as they celebrated their win in Williams-Brice Stadium that night. If there are 30,000 Tigers fans doing that on Saturday afternoon after a big win, that could put the newfound faith in Muschamp’s job status back in doubt. South Carolina has become a hard team for its fans to watch, which makes me think Clemson fans will be able to find tickets if they want them.

So, while the Tigers may be worried about what the atmosphere is like before the game, the Gameco*cks are more worried about after it. For the record, I don’t expect there to be a problem from the South Carolina student section. It’s an early game and a lot of the fight has been taken out of the crowd.

My bigger concern is the overall health of the rivalry. Clemson’s average margin of victory in the last five seasons is 23.4 points, and I’m not sure South Carolina can keep it closer than that Saturday.

Grace Raynor: That rant all these years later is still one of Swinney’s most memorable and certainly one Clemson fans like to remember this time of year. I was wondering heading into this game, given how lopsided the outcome is expected to be, where the hype was going to come from early in the week. Nothing like some rivalry back-and-forth to heat things up.

As a whole, Clemson travels well, and I expect Saturday to be no exception, especially with a short trip down the road. The Tigers were well represented at North Carolina in September, and that was about double the distance Columbia is from Clemson and not a rivalry game. I think it being a day game also helps Clemson, as fans who might have been on the fence initially will probably lean toward going now that they know they can make it a day trip.

For as large as Clemson’s average margin of victory is during the last five seasons, the Tigers’ average margin of victory in 2019 is even scarier. Clemson is beating opponents by 35.2 points per game and its defense is allowing only 10.7 points per game.

When Wake Forest came to town two weeks ago, the Demon Deacons were averaging almost 500 yards of offense per week. Clemson held them to 105.

Add to the mix that Clemson’s starters are incredibly fresh — the starting offense is usually done after the second series of the second half — and the mismatch grows.

Kendall: It definitely has the chance to be a tough game to watch from a competition standpoint. If you told me South Carolina finishes with fewer than 10 first downs, I would buy that. That makes me wonder: why not do something crazy? They’ve had two weeks to prepare. They have nothing to lose. What they’ve done the last month has stunk. This goes completely against everything Muschamp believes about football — chiefly that you get better by working harder at the fundamentals — so I don’t really expect it to happen. But it would be interesting if it did.

They could put Dakereon Joyner at quarterback and go option-heavy. They could go jumbo-set and run the ball and slow down the game. They could try something. Again, though, I don’t expect it.

If the game is going to be interesting at all, Shi Smith has to have a crazy day, but I do worry that it’s just not going to be any fun to watch because of how lopsided it’s shaping up to be.

South Carolina is going to need another four-turnover day, as it had against Georgia, if it’s going to have any chance.

Raynor: I’m with you on pulling out the zany packages. Why not? If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. The Gameco*cks won’t lose because of it. If they lose, it’s going to be because they were mismatched at every position and were facing one of the most consistent coaching staffs in all of college football. But if it does work, it gives fans something to be excited about and generates some excitement. It feels like a win-win to roll the dice.

I’m glad you brought up Smith. He’s a guy who Swinney mentioned unprompted on Tuesday. Swinney said he was a dangerous player, especially with the ball in his hands, and I’m excited to see him match up against a dominant Clemson back seven. We also know NFL scouts will be in the house.

Another player I’ve got my eye on from the Gameco*cks side is Javon Kinlaw. I can’t remember the last time Clemson talked about a specific defensive lineman the way the Tigers talked about Kinlaw this week. Alex Highsmith, the defensive end from Charlotte who ranks 15th in the country in sacks, comes to mind. Kinlaw’s praise was in that category. Swinney said Tuesday that Kinlaw reminds him a little bit of former Clemson defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, a first-round NFL Draft pick in April by the New York Giants. Kinlaw isn’t as big as Lawrence, but he’s explosive at the point of attack like Lawrence was and he’s still huge at 6-foot-6 and 310 pounds.

Clemson’s offensive line is veteran and has performed well this season. Last week, it was announced the group was a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award, given to the best offensive line in college football. Kinlaw versus right guard Gage Cervenka and center Sean Pollard will be fun to watch.

Cervenka, for what it’s worth, is far and away the strongest person on Clemson’s team. He once squatted 680 pounds.

Kendall: I realize that I’m not being a great promoter of this game because I can’t figure out a way that it’s not an uninspiring and uncompetitive event, but if South Carolina fans want something fun to watch, watch Kinlaw, because I think he’s going to be inspired. He wrecked Georgia’s vaunted offensive line and was as responsible, if not more so, than any player on that field for the upset.

Kinlaw is not only huge and strong but he has an incredible wingspan, which allows him to separate from blockers. This is his last chance to impress NFL scouts, and I think that will be on his mind despite the fact that he insists otherwise. It’s very rare that the play of a defensive tackle is compelling to watch, but I think it will be Saturday.

As for Smith, he’s about the only dynamic offensive player South Carolina will have if Bryan Edwards can’t play. Edwards had an arthroscopic procedure on his knee after the Nov. 9 game against App State and Muschamp called him “doubtful” last week. (In Muschamp-speak, “doubtful” basically means dead.) That has been upgraded to “questionable” but that feels a lot like a smokescreen to me.

I think the passing game is going to be on Smith, who is the Gameco*cks’ fastest player but only has one 100-yard receiving game this season. That was against Tennessee, when caught a 75-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage. The Gameco*cks will need a home run or six like that if they’re going to have a chance Saturday.

Raynor: Speaking of the passing game, Clemson’s is clicking behind quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who is playing his best ball now after some uncharacteristic interceptions early in the season. His group of receivers is as deep as they come in Tee Higgins, Justyn Ross and Amari Rodgers, with Ross and Rodgers both expected to return from injury.

Clemson’s offense is loaded. So too, is the defense. I, like you, am having a hard time hyping this game up. All signs say Clemson wins big.

(Top photo of South Carolina’s Keisean Nixon, right, and Clemson’s Travis Etienne from 2018: Streeter Lecka / Getty Images)