Palmetto Sports Week 5 Preview (#9 Texas A&M Vs. South Carolina, #3 Louisville Vs. #5 Clemson)

Week five is bringing us some exciting matchups this week. There are four top 25 matchups this week. The best teams in the ACC and Pac 12 play each other this week. The winners of these games put themselves in good shape going forward in the season. In the palmetto state, Texas A&M travels to Columbia, South Carolina to face the South Carolina Gamecocks. Then we have the big top five ACC matchup in Clemson, South Carolina between Louisville Cardinals and the Clemson Tigers. 

#9 Texas A&M at South Carolina at 4pm on the SEC Network

Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

The Gamecocks are about to start a five-game homestand on Saturday when the Aggies come to town. The Gamecocks don't have the season some fans were expecting, but for the fans, with the brain inside their head, they understand that this is a young team who will only improve as the season goes along. However, the Gamecocks I don't believe will be any type of match for the Aggies on Saturday, but weirder things have happened. The Gamecocks would need to put up 30 points to have a chance versus A&M, and the Gamecocks haven't scored more than 20 points this season. While we would love to Brandon McIlwain break out for a big performance in this game, however, this Aggie defense is playing stingy and will make it tough on McIlwain and the rest of the Gamecock offense. The Gamecocks are hoping to get Deebo Samuels back for this game, but with the nagging hamstring that has kept him out for the last two games would probably make him ineffective if he was in the game. The Gamecocks offensive line could be in for a long day on Saturday as they will be facing a pretty dang good Texas A&M defensive line. Myles Garrett and Deashon Hall are an excellent duo on the defensive line and may be one of the best in the country. The two have combined through four games for ten tackles for loss and four sacks. Armani Watts and Justin Evans have dominated the defensive backfield this year and have really helped turn around this defense. Watts is excellent at getting into the backfield and getting the sack and Evans leads the team in tackles. The Aggie defense is allowing 390 yards per game so far this season. The Gamecocks are only averaging 282 yards of total offense on the  year. 

The Gamecock defense needs to have the game of their life this week for the Gamecocks to have a chance. It's going to be a lot like the ECU game for the defense except your facing a better all around team. So this could get out of hand early. I look for the defensive line to hold their own and possibly put some pressure on A&M's Quarterback Trevor Knight. However, with the Gamecocks only playing three true defensive backs in their rotation. I expect for all three of them to be on the field a lot at the same time and will have to play a lot of snaps. A&M will probably run about 80 or more snaps on Saturday versus the Gamecocks. The Gamecocks are going to need everyone to step up in the secondary and have a big game. Like I have said before the A&M offense is probably one of the best offenses in the country. Led by Oklahoma transfer Trevor Knight, whom I consider a dual threat Quarterback because he can hurt you with his arms and use his feet if he has to, which makes it harder on the defense to contain a guy like Knight. The Aggies have two really good Running Backs and you will see them both about split carries on Saturday. Keith Ford like Knight is an Oklahoma transfer. Ford is the bruiser for the Aggies. He averages five yards per carry. Trayveon Williams is the speedster out of the backfield. He isn't a very big back, but the kid has some wheels and can hurt a defense coming in after they are worn down. Williams averages about 10 yards a carry. The Aggies have a lot of talent at receiver. Josh Reyolds, Christian Kirk, and Ricky Seals-Jones are the three big time receivers for the Aggies that they rely on a lot. The Aggies also have a very talented offensive line that has a few guys that are NFL locks at their respected positions. 

All in all, I always try to be optimistic about things. However, I just don't see the Gamecocks having enough to slow down this Aggie offense. I think for the Gamecocks to even have a chance they would have to put some long drives together to make sure the defense is well rested and the defense would have to force some turnovers. I just don't think from what I have seen from out offense this year that we are capable of that. The points spread on this game sits at 18 in favor of the Aggies. I think the Gamecocks lose by more than that. 

Texas A&M Key Players

QB Trevor Knight

WR Christian Kirk

DL Myles Garrett

Key To Victory  For The Aggies: Don't beat yourself, don't turnover the ball.

South Carolina Key Players

QB Brandon McIlwain

OT Mason Zandi

The Whole Secondary

Key To Victory For The Gamecocks: Sustain and score on long drives, make sure defense gets their rest.

Score Prediction: Texas A&M over South Carolina (38-17)

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

#3 Louisville at #5 Clemson at 8pm on ABC

Alright, this has become the game of the year. We are in week five and I just don't forsee us having a bigger game as the year goes on. Maybe Texas A&M and Alabama have something to say about that. However, I don't see anything that can top the hype of this game until maybe bowl season. Both teams are undefeated. While one team was expected to be here, the other was not. We will have a showdown of two Heisman contending Quarterbacks and two very stingy defenses. We are in for a treat on Saturday night.

While we all know how great the Clemson offense can be. We have yet to see it break out into its full potential. If the Tigers want to have a chance on Saturday then we need to see the same offense we saw last year tear through the competition. Watson comes in on the verge of Eclipsing 1,000 passing yards on the season. Watson hasn't played bad this year. He just hasn't been getting the help he needs from the guys that are around him. One guy that has been playing very well and I look for him to be used a lot on Saturday night and that is Ray-Ray McCloud. McCloud leads the Clemson offense in receptions. One thing the Tigers need to do very well on Saturday is run the football. The Cardinals defense is set up a lot for the pass. It's not too often they stack the box. If Clemson can make the Louisville defense come up then that could allow them to attack downfield and have success there as well.

The Louisville defense can get after it. They will blitz from different spots on the field, but mainly get pressure on the Quarterback from the four down lineman. However, they have some very good linebackers who are quick to get into the backfield on the blitzes. Chucky Williams is a stand-up defensive end who can drop back and defend the pass if needed. He is one of the most dynamic players in the nation on the defensive side of the ball. Willaims leads the team in tackles and tackles for loss. Another key player to watch is former Georgia Bulldog transfer, Josh Harvey-Clemons. Harvey-Clemons is probably the best player in the secondary and he mans the safety position. He also isn't afraid of laying the hammer down on receiver to prevent them from catching the ball. Louisville defense is only allowing 278 yards of total yard of offense to opponents. While better than most they have faced this year. Clemson's offense is averaging 452 yards of total offense this season. So the Cardinals have a tough task at hand on Saturday if they want to try to keep Clemson under 300 yards of offense. 

The big story of this season has been how great Louisville Quarterback Lamar Jackson has been. While Jackson isn't the best Quarterback in the country and he won't be the best Quarterback on the field Saturday. He will be the most dynamic player on the field Saturday and stopping him is probably the toughest task the Clemson defense has faced all year. Lamar Jackson has scored 25 total touchdowns through four games this season. Jackson has 13 passing touchdowns and 12 rushing touchdowns. Jackson is the Heisman front-runner going into this game in a lot of peoples mind and if his team could get a win over Clemson on Saturday it could just about almost lock him into getting to make the trip to the Heisman Ceremony. Lousiville has several other playmakers on the offense. Running Back Brandon Radcliff is a really good back. Radcliff is great at getting extra yardage after contact. Going into the game Radcliff is averaging  9 yards per carry. James Quick is Jackson's go-to receiving target and is probably their best receiver on the team. This is by far the toughest task that the Clemson defense has faced all year. Stopping a triple option is tough and the Clemson Tigers did that with ease. However, stopping Lamar Jackson and the weapons around him is going to be a much tougher task. There hasn't been any fall off from the Clemson defense as they just continue to reload every year. Brent Venables is the one to thank for that. He just continues to coach up an excellent defense that dominates on Saturday's. The Clemson defensive line has been getting into the backfield all season with ease. If they are able to dominate the Louisville offensive line then Clemson will win this game. Because if they can stop Lamar Jackson from being able to use his feet and force him into mistakes then they have it one. Clemson's defense has won it a lot of games over the past three seasons. I believe Saturday night could be another game that they dominate and win a game for Clemson. Louisville offense is averaging 682 yards per game. While Clemson defense is only allowing 218 offensive yards per game this season.

Louisville Key Players

QB Lamar Jackson

LB/DE Chucky Williams

Safety Josh Harvey-Clemons

Louisville Key To Victory: Force turnovers, put pressure on Deshaun Watson consistently.

Clemson Key Players

QB Deshuan Watson

RB Wayne Gallman

LB Ben Boulware

Clemson Key To Victory: Make Lamar Jackson throw the ball, take away any run game they have.

Score Prediction: Louisville over Clemson (31-27)