South Carolina ready for task of facing second-ranked Tigers

COLUMBIA - After defeating Chattanooga on Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium to become bowl eligible, the South Carolina Gamecocks now face their toughest challenge of the season: playing the undefeated and second-ranked Clemson Tigers in Death Valley on Saturday.

"I try to take each game by itself, and I think about what-ifs and what it's going to be," South Carolina junior quarterback Jake Bentley said. "We've got to approach with the mindset this is the 2018 Carolina team against the 2018 Clemson team and just go from there."

The 6-4 Gamecocks will take on the 11-0 Tigers at 7 p.m. The Tigers have already locked up the Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic Division title and will play in the ACC Championship game on Dec. 1 in Charlotte. However, Clemson has its focus on gaining a berth in the College Football Playoff for the fourth straight year, so a fifth straight victory over the Gamecocks is the next step to achieve that goal.

Carolina head coach Will Muschamp knows his squad has to have a tremendous effort in order to derail Clemson's hopes.

"I think we've played well; we've done a nice job," Muschamp said. "Certainly we've got a huge challenge and opportunity with Clemson, and (Clemson defensive coordinator) Brent (Venables) does a really good job. We're gonna need to play well again."

The Gamecock offense will have to take on a stout Clemson defense that is only allowing 12.1 points and 254.4 yards - 170.1 passing and 84.3 rushing - per game.

"It's our rival," South Carolina sophomore wide receiver Shi Smith said. "It means a lot, but we're going to take it just as we did last week."

On the other side of the ball, Clemson's offense has also been stellar this season, led by quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The freshman has thrown for 2,095 yards, 21 touchdowns and four interceptions. Sophomore running back Travis Etienne has run the ball 136 times for 1,157 yards and 17 scores, and sophomore wide receiver Tee Higgins has caught 43 passes for 624 yards and seven touchdowns.

"We just need to be consistent, need to play our game," South Carolina redshirt junior defensive lineman Daniel Fennell said. "As the defense is called, we have to do our job."

As a whole, Clemson's offense averages 520.5 yards per game, 272.7 through the air and 247.7 on the ground.

"It'll be like a regular week of preparation and everything, but there's always a chip on your shoulder going into the week with our rivalry game and everything," junior linebacker T.J. Brunson said. "We can do a little bit extra meeting and things like that, but preparation has to stay the same."