Final thoughts and a prediction ahead of South Carolina’s football game vs. Clemson

For the 120th time on Saturday, South Carolina will face off against Clemson in football.

The Gamecocks (5-6) need a victory to become bowl-eligible. And the Tigers (7-4) are looking for revenge after South Carolina went into Death Valley last season and snapped Clemson’s 40-game home winning streak.

For the fourth-straight Saturday and the second-straight Saturday night, Williams-Brice Stadium will be packed. The Gamecock Walk starts at 5:30 p.m. Senior day festivities begin at 7:10 p.m. And kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. The game will air on SEC Network.

Those are some facts. Here are some thoughts.

1. Has Clayton White done enough to save his job?

Four weeks ago, after South Carolina lost 30-17 to Texas A&M and the Gamecocks fell to 2-6, it felt inevitable that Shane Beamer was going to have to make some coaching changes.

You can’t win three or four games and not fire some people.

Probably the betting favorite to pack up his bags was defensive coordinator Clayton White, who held the same position at Western Kentucky before Beamer hired him to his first staff at USC.

White is a staunch believer in his scheme, which often lines up four defensive linemen and asks its cornerbacks to not give up easy throws in space. But it wasn’t working. Heading into November, the Gamecocks defense was in the bottom 25 nationally in too many categories to count.

White — and probably Beamer — knew changes had to come. The result: South Carolina has been running far more of its 3-3-5 scheme, something it previously did just a few times a game.

The outcome has been drastic. The Gamecocks haven’t given up 30 points in a game yet in November. They held Kentucky to under 300 total yards last weekend. And they have forced more turnovers in the past three games (9) than they did in the first eight (7).

“We adjusted calls and Coach White and the whole defensive staff have done a great job putting in plays and giving us calls to play faster.,” said cornerback Marcellas Dial. “Of course, we’re gonna feel better when we feel comfortable with the call.”

Added White: “I’m trying my best to get the system to where guys are thinking less. … The more guys can get to the ball, the more turnovers they can get.”

In short: It seems White just simplified the defense, adjusted it to his personnel and let his guys make plays. Two questions come from that. One, why didn’t he do that in fall camp? And, two, will it be enough for him to keep his job?

Asked how he would grade himself this season, White was honest.

“I mean, it’s been one of those seasons. It’s been a rough season, to be honest with you, starting at the beginning,” White said. “We’ll see how we finish this thing out, but the grade is probably trending better than it was at the beginning.

“But it’s been one of those years where I have to stand strong in front of the young men in there and keep their confidence up,” White added. “So I’ll give myself a really high grade in that.”

2. This might be the best season ever by a South Carolina QB

I saw former South Carolina QB and longtime radio voice of the Gamecocks Todd Ellis after “Carolina Calls” on Tuesday night. I asked him where Spencer Rattler ranked among the all-time quarterbacks.

That one was probably unfair. There’s too much to consider and factor in. But, Ellis said, the season Rattler has put together is the best he’s ever seen from a South Carolina QB.

That amazed me. Then I looked at the numbers and it wasn’t crazy at all.

Against Clemson, Rattler (3,074 passing yards) will likely throw for the 133 yards needed to best Ellis for second place. He might not get the 490 to best the program record, set by Dylan Thompson in 2014.

He needs just 14 completions to set a new single-season record for that. And his completion percentage (70.6%) is by far the best ever by a USC quarterback. And, though they aren’t records, Rattler has tossed 19 TDs to just 7 interceptions.

And while he technically has only rushed for 88 yards, if you take out the yards he lost on the 39 sacks (121st in the country), Rattler has run for 364 yards and four scores.

He has not just been spectacular this season, but has remained poised and upbeat in a season where his behind must be sore from all the times getting knocked down.

Which leads us to this point by offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains.

“I don’t know if we’ve done him enough justice,” he said. “He deserves to have a better record than what he has. That’s the hard part about this year. Like, how do you have such good quarterback play? How do you not turn the ball over at that position and not have a better record? That’s where I feel like we’ve let him down a little bit.”

3. It sounds like Juice Wells could play — if he wanted to

The rumors swirled last week that maybe, just maybe, Beamer could be ready to pull out a secret weapon for the Clemson game.

Wide receiver Antwane “Juice” Wells, who hasn’t played since Sept. 16, practiced last Tuesday and it seemed like he might be able to make a return this week.

Then, on Monday night, Wells posted to social media: “Clearing the air, I’m not playing and not holding out for the NFL draft. I’ll be back next year.”

Asked about seeing Wells’ post, Beamer said he relayed about “50%” of the post to him.

But the more Beamer and others talked, it sounded like the decision was on Wells. No one said he hadn’t been cleared. No one said doctors were holding him back. No one said he still needed to recover. Everyone made it sound like Wells made a choice not to play.

“If Juice came to me today after this press conference and said he wanted to play this week, it wouldn’t shock me,” Beamer said. “Did not anticipate him playing this week but again, if Juice decides he is in the right frame of mind and feels good physically and he wants to, then great. But we are not counting on that.”

A day later, Loggains was asked about Wells and said this:

“You’ve got to make a decision about what’s best for you and hopefully it aligns with the team. And sometimes it doesn’t — and that’s unfortunate. But we also understand that and we support everything he wants to do.”

Take from that what you will.

4. Clemson is gonna run the ball to no end

Every time I look deeper at Clemson, the more and more I become convinced that the Tigers are going to try and run the ball a million times, to turn Saturday into a ground-and-pound contest.

And, then, last year, all Clemson did well was run the ball. The Tigers picked up 237 yards on the ground while quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei was just 8-of-29 passing for 99 yards.

And then came the news earlier this week that Clemson’s starting outside receiver Beaux Collins is out for Saturday and starting slot receiver Antonio Williams is questionable to play.

All the signs are pointing to Clemson handing the ball off nearly every play. Is the Gamecocks’ defense ready?

PREDICTION: Clemson 33, South Carolina 27