South Carolina defends the belt, 29–7, on the road at Clemson.
AP poll, week 13: South Carolina No. 18 at Clemson unranked · No. 1 that week: Michigan State. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
South Carolina came in 14 days into reign #276, which began with a win over Florida, with one defense already behind it; this was its second defense. It was the last defense: Auburn took the belt in the very next belt game, on December 4, 2010.
For Clemson this was its 9th shot at the belt; it had held the belt twice before.
This is the only time Clemson and South Carolina have met with the belt on the line.
Recap
South Carolina's defense dominated Clemson throughout this rivalry matchup, forcing three turnovers while the Gamecocks' offense clicked efficiently behind Stephen Garcia's arm. Clemson struck first with a 45-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Parker to DeAndre Hopkins in the first quarter, but South Carolina answered immediately with a touchdown drive capped by Garcia's 5-yard scoring pass to Patrick DiMarco. The Gamecocks then took control, with Garcia connecting on two more touchdown passes to Alshon Jeffery in the second quarter to build a commanding lead. Clemson's offense sputtered throughout, managing only 251 total yards and three turnovers, including a critical first-quarter fumble at their own 5-yard line that set up South Carolina's second touchdown. South Carolina's defense sealed the victory with Antonio Allen's interception return for a touchdown in the third quarter, and the Gamecocks cruised to a 29-7 win to retain the belt.
- Kyle Parker's 45-yard TD pass to DeAndre Hopkins gave Clemson an early 7-0 lead
- Clemson's fumble at their own 5-yard line in Q1 led directly to Patrick DiMarco's TD reception, swinging momentum to South Carolina
- Alshon Jeffery's two touchdown receptions (37 and 41 yards) in the second quarter extended South Carolina's lead and established dominance
- Antonio Allen's interception return for a touchdown in Q3 put the game out of reach and sealed the belt retention
Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.
Team stats
CFBD box scoreFull team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.
Key plays
CFBD play-by-play| When | Team | Yards | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 13:10 | Clemson | +45 yd | Kyle Parker pass complete to DeAndre Hopkins for 45 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q1 14:00 | Clemson | +32 yd | Kyle Parker pass complete to DeAndre Hopkins for 32 yards to the SCaro 41 for a 1ST down. |
| Q1 13:10 | Clemson | +0 yd | Chandler Catanzaro extra point GOOD. |
| Q1 13:05 | Clemson | +22 yd | Spencer Benton kickoff for 69 yards returned by Bryce Sherman for 22 yards to the SCaro 23. |
| Q1 9:18 | South Carolina | +46 yd | Spencer Lanning 46 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q1 5:05 | Clemson | -22 yd | Team rush for a loss of 22 yards, fumbled, forced by Team, recovered by SCaro Brian Maddox at the Clem 5. |
| Q1 5:00 | South Carolina | +5 yd | Stephen Garcia pass complete to Patrick DiMarco for 5 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q1 4:52 | South Carolina | +20 yd | Jay Wooten kickoff for 70 yards returned by Marcus Gilchrist for 20 yards to the Clem 20. |
| Q1 1:55 | South Carolina | +39 yd | Stephen Garcia pass complete to Alshon Jeffery for 39 yards to the Clem 44 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 14:53 | South Carolina | +0 yd | Spencer Lanning extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 14:45 | South Carolina | +39 yd | Jay Wooten kickoff for 62 yards returned by Marcus Gilchrist for 39 yards to the Clem 47. |
| Q2 14:53 | South Carolina | +37 yd | Stephen Garcia pass complete to Alshon Jeffery for 37 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 10:14 | South Carolina | +41 yd | Stephen Garcia pass complete to Alshon Jeffery for 41 yards to the Clem 13 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 8:22 | South Carolina | +25 yd | Spencer Lanning 25 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q2 0:50 | South Carolina | +25 yd | Stephen Garcia pass complete to Justice Cunningham for 25 yards to the Clem 33 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 0:00 | South Carolina | +49 yd | Spencer Lanning 49 yard field goal MISSED. |
| Q3 10:17 | Clemson | +37 yd | Kyle Parker pass intercepted by Antonio Allen at the Clem 37, returned for 37 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 10:17 | South Carolina | +0 yd | Spencer Lanning extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 1:15 | South Carolina | +37 yd | Spencer Lanning 37 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q3 1:09 | South Carolina | +21 yd | Jay Wooten kickoff for 67 yards returned by Marcus Gilchrist for 21 yards to the Clem 24. |
| Q4 0:30 | Clemson | +39 yd | Roderick McDowell rush for 39 yards to the SCaro 39 for a 1ST down. |
Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).
Player stats
CFBD player statsPassing
Clemson
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Parker | 7/17 | 117 | 6.9 | 1 | 1 | 6.2 |
| Tajh Boyd | 10/18 | 73 | 4.1 | 0 | 0 | 7.5 |
South Carolina
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Garcia | 14/30 | 227 | 7.6 | 2 | 0 | 71.1 |
Rushing
Clemson
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamie Harper | 16 | 58 | 3.6 | 0 | 18 |
| Roderick McDowell | 1 | 39 | 39.0 | 0 | 39 |
| Andre Ellington | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tajh Boyd | 8 | -18 | -2.3 | 0 | 2 |
South Carolina
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus Lattimore | 23 | 48 | 2.1 | 0 | 10 |
| Brian Maddox | 5 | 23 | 4.6 | 0 | 15 |
| Stephen Garcia | 5 | 18 | 3.6 | 0 | 10 |
| Kenny Miles | 3 | 6 | 2.0 | 0 | 7 |
Receiving
Clemson
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeAndre Hopkins | 7 | 124 | 17.7 | 1 | 45 |
| Jaron Brown | 3 | 28 | 9.3 | 0 | 16 |
| Marquan Jones | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 0 | 14 |
| Jamie Harper | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 0 | 12 |
| Xavier Dye | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 6 |
| Roderick McDowell | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 4 |
| Brandon Ford | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Chad Diehl | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 |
South Carolina
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alshon Jeffery | 5 | 141 | 28.2 | 1 | 41 |
| Marcus Lattimore | 5 | 41 | 8.2 | 0 | 12 |
| Justice Cunningham | 2 | 33 | 16.5 | 0 | 25 |
| Patrick DiMarco | 2 | 12 | 6.0 | 1 | 7 |
Show more stats (5 more categories)
Interceptions
Clemson
No recorded stats in this category.
South Carolina
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antonio Allen | 1 | 37 | 1 |
Kick Returns
Clemson
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus Gilchrist | 6 | 139 | 23.2 | 39 | 0 |
South Carolina
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryce Sherman | 2 | 40 | 20.0 | 22 | 0 |
Kicking
Clemson
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chandler Catanzaro | 0/0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1/1 | 1 |
South Carolina
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spencer Lanning | 3/4 | 75.0 | 46 | 2/3 | 11 |
Punt Returns
Clemson
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus Gilchrist | 5 | 26 | 5.2 | 9 | 0 |
South Carolina
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ace Sanders | 6 | 17 | 2.8 | 9 | 0 |
Punting
Clemson
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dawson Zimmerman | 9 | 345 | 38.3 | 0 | 0 | 45 |
South Carolina
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spencer Lanning | 7 | 299 | 42.7 | 0 | 0 | 48 |
Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.
Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 303310228) · This game in the downloadable dataset