Opponent: Clemson Tigers

When: November 24, 2018 at TBD

Where: Clemson Memorial Stadium in Clemson, SC

All-Time Series Record: Clemson leads 69-42

Last Meeting: Clemson defeated South Carolina 34-10 in Columbia.

2017 Record: 12-2(7-1)

Head Coach…

"It's never too late to do the right thing." — Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney pic.twitter.com/GUasYUQTYq

— Tigerillustrated.com (@TIinClemson) August 18, 2018

Dabo Swinney is entering his tenth season as the head coach of Clemson. He has a career record of 101-30. Swinney is coming off of an impressive 2017 campaign where he led the Tigers to an ACC Championship and a College Football Playoff bid. In 2016, he led his team to their second National Championship in program history. Swinney will look to take his team to the National Championship game for the third time in four years.

Returning Starters…

Clemson returns seven offensive starters led by senior quarterback Kelly Bryant. They also return eight defensive starters which are led by one of the best defensive lines in college football.

How did they fare in 2017?

Clemson rolled over most of their competition except for Syracuse, who upset the Tigers when Kelly Bryant went down. The Tigers won the ACC and made it all the way to the playoff semifinal where they suffered a disappointing defeat to reigning National Champions, Alabama.

Best Returning Player…

.@PFF_College says @ClemsonFB's Travis Etienne is the most elusive back in @ACCFootball so far this season. That's hard to argue. pic.twitter.com/QkW3V3JFWZ

— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) September 25, 2017

RB Travis Etienne (5-10, 201) Sophomore

I would say that the defensive line deserves this honor, but I would say sophomore running back Travis Etienne is the best returning player. Despite only playing eight games last year with zero starts, Etienne rushed for 520 yards and seven touchdowns as a Freshman. The most impressive stat is that he averaged 7.9 yards per carry. Expect Etienne to get the bulk of the carries this year. With uncertainty at the quarterback position, Etienne will most likely get lots of carries.

Overall Outlook…

When South Carolina played at home last year, they used the motto “never again” referring to the blowout loss to Clemson in 2016. This motto didn’t seem to go too well last year because South Carolina couldn’t compete with Clemson’s ridiculous defensive line. The Gamecocks will have a lot of talent if they can stay healthy this year, and they hope that they can put up a bigger challenge to Clemson than the last two years.

2018 SEASON PREOJECTION: 11-1