Parallels between the 2025 collapses of Clemson and South Carolina

Wide receiver Antonio Williams evades a tackle to earn some yards after a catch against South Carolina in 2024. (Photo from Ashleigh Snyder)

Early on in the 2025 college football season, November’s Palmetto Bowl matchup looked to be an absolute classic. The cross-state rivalry saw Clemson ranked No. 4 and a surging South Carolina ranked No. 13 in the preseason.

South Carolina wildly exceeded expectations in the 2024 season, winning nine games instead of the projected five en route to a Citrus Bowl appearance and a No. 19 ranking at the end of the year.

Reigning SEC Coach of the Year Shane Beamer saw his unit receive its first preseason ranking since 2014, led by the SEC All-Freshman quarterback LaNorris Sellers and preseason All-SEC defensive studs Dylan Stewart and Jalon Kilgore.

Clemson was the talk of the town in the preseason, led by Heisman watchlist candidate Cade Klubnik and supported by the retained core that won an ACC Championship and appeared in the playoffs a year before. With T.J. Parker, Peter Woods, A.J. Terrell, Sammy Brown and Wade Woodaz, the Tigers boasted a defense that looked straight out of an NFL scout’s dream. It was the great American experiment — led by coach Dabo Swinney — to not show aggressiveness in the transfer portal and instead attempt to ride with his guys.

Yet, both teams have had historic seasons for all the wrong reasons.

Despite high preseason praise and admiration, both squads sit way out of College Football Playoff contention. Through 10 games this season, the Tigers enter with a 6-5 record and are 4-4 in ACC play, while the Gamecocks disappoint at 4-7 and 1-7 in the SEC.

For the Gamecocks, this season has been a bigger disappointment than 2014, when the team opened the season ranked No. 9 and 3-1 before collapsing and losing five of its last eight games.

The Tigers have started historically badly, considering their high standards, and could potentially see massive coaching changes in the offseason.

What in the world happened to the Palmetto Bowl classic we were promised?

Clemson opened its 2025 campaign with a disappointing loss to fellow top-10-ranked team LSU. Despite forcing two fumbles, the defense looked sloppy, making LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier look like a Heisman frontrunner.

Brian Kelly simply outcoached Swinney, lighting a fire in his team, which outhustled Clemson. It also didn’t help that star receiver Antonio Williams left the game with an injury early on.

Meanwhile, South Carolina began its year with a strong defensive showing against Virginia Tech, picking off quarterback Kyron Drones twice and sacking him four times. Sellers appeared to lack awareness in the pocket, however, which raised concerns about underdevelopment for the quarterback poised to have a great year.

In Week 2, then-No. 8 Clemson seemed unmotivated in the first half of a supposedly easy win over Troy, trailing the Trojans 16-0 at halftime in a rainy meltdown. The Tigers scored 27 unanswered points in the second half following a strong defensive performance.

Klubnik and his offense still left much to be desired, however, with Williams out. Questions arose about Clemson’s offensive firepower, and its ranking would only plummet further.

The Gamecocks then steamrolled their easy matchup against South Carolina State, 38-10, with two punt return touchdowns.

Sellers did little to quiet his doubters, completing just two of his first eight passing attempts, ending with only 128 passing yards in an otherwise all-around dominant performance by South Carolina. At this point, the Gamecocks had the upper edge over Clemson in the eyes of the media.

In Week 3, a parallel emerged between these two highly touted teams.

South Carolina would fall victim to a breakout game by Vanderbilt, led by quarterback Diego Pavia, as the Commodores secured a 31-7 victory. Sellers was knocked out of the game in the second quarter, and backup Luke Doty struggled to spur up any offense.

The Tigers would lose an absolute heartbreaker to Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets’ Aidan Birr kicked a 55-yard field goal — the longest in program history — and sealed a 24-21 win just as time expired.

The defense looked sluggish, and Klubnik’s story was the same; he didn’t look like a high-end prospect, throwing an interception and fumbling once.

And thus, the Tigers and Gamecocks, after both beginning the season waving their South Carolina state flags proudly in the spotlight, dropped out of the rankings by Week 4. The trend seemed to be the same for both teams: unreliable offenses led by quarterbacks who appeared underdeveloped and underprepared for the moment.

Clemson went on to lose three of its next five games. The Tigers’ 1-3 start was their worst since 2004, and a record of five regular-season losses was a figure that Clemson hadn’t seen since 2010.

Swinney was thrust into the hot seat. TigerNet exploded with discussions of blowing up the entire staff. Students got their first taste of what it was like to be fans of a mediocre football team.

The Gamecocks had virtually no hope in their midseason schedule aside from potential upsets. South Carolina is ranked third in ESPN’s College Football Power Index strength of schedule, just behind the similarly 3-7 Florida Gators and Wisconsin Badgers. Beamer’s team would face No. 23 Missouri, No. 11 LSU, No. 14 Oklahoma, No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 7 Ole Miss and No. 3 Texas A&M in the span of nine weeks.

South Carolina lost all six of those ranked matchups, with a 35-13 win over Kentucky in the midst of it all to ease the pain. Instead of just considering coaching changes, the school promptly fired offensive coordinator Mike Shula following the Ole Miss loss.

Week 13 opened up opportunities for both struggling South Carolina-based teams to stay alive and secure a spot in a bowl game.

Clemson would beat No. 20 Louisville in a gritty dogfight that proved to be its statement win of the year. The game was a testament to how much a ranked opponent could shoot themself in the foot before the other would actually win, as the Cardinals missed two late field goals and recorded three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

The Gamecocks, however, made national headlines in all the wrong ways. They led No. 3 Texas A&M 30-3 by halftime, firing on all cylinders defensively. South Carolina snatched two picks off Aggies’ quarterback Marcel Reed, forcing him to fumble as well.

The second half was a different story. The Aggies sacked Sellers multiple times, shut South Carolina out and won 31-30 when all was said and done.

Both the Tigers and Gamecocks beat their Week 14 opponents — Furman and Coastal Carolina, respectively — fairly easily.

The Palmetto Bowl will be held at noon on Nov. 29 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina. While the contest unfortunately won’t feature a ranked battle of the giants, it will still be a fun game as players fight to be champs of the state.

STORY ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN CLEMSON UNIVERSITY'S SCHOOL NEWSPAPER, THE TIGER.