SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 29, 2014
No. 24 Clemson 35, South Carolina 17: Deshaun Watson and Artavis Scott hooked up for two long touchdowns and fellow freshman Wayne Gallman rushed for 191 yards and a score as the host Tigers snapped a streak of five straight losses to the rival Gamecocks.
Watson finished 14-of-19 for 269 yards with TD passes of 52 and 70 yards to Scott, who caught seven passes for 185 yards. The Tigers (9-3) rolled up 491 total yards and had a 250-yard passer, 180-yard rusher and 180-yard receiver in the same game for the first time in program history.
Dylan Thompson threw for 249 yards and a touchdown on 21-of-39 passing for the Gamecocks (6-6), who had won 19 consecutive non-conference games overall and 24 straight in the regular season. Star running back Mike Davis was limited to 39 yards on 12 carries.
South Carolina drove 70 yards on its second series and opened the scoring on Pharoh Cooper's 20-yard touchdown run, but Clemson answered by going 80 yards in four plays capped by Watson's short shovel pass that Scott took 53 yards for a score. Gallman punched in a 5-yard TD run three plays after Vic Beasley forced a Thompson fumble, and Watson capped the Tigers' next possession with a 1-yard TD run before Elliott Fry matched his career long with a 47-yard field goal to make it 21-10 at the half.
The Gamecocks had a chance to get within one score in the second half, but Fry's second attempt from 47 yards missed wide left and Watson hit Scott for a 70-yard TD on the next play to make it 28-10 with 4:30 left in the third quarter. South Carolina kept its slim hopes alive when Thompson hit Damiere Byrd for a 12-yard TD to pull within 11 with 7:49 left, but the Tigers went 75 yards in nine plays with Watson scoring on another 1-yard run to seal it.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Clemson LB Stephone Anthony was ejected for a late hit on Thompson late in the third quarter and will be suspended for the first half of the Tigers' bowl game. … Gallman's TD run following Thompson's fumble marked the Tigers' first points off a turnover against South Carolina since 2008 after being outscored 62-0 in that category over the past five meetings. … Thompson (3,280) surpassed Todd Ellis' single-season school record for passing yards set in 1987.