Elliott says it's time to break out the orange britches

Clemson celebrates the win over South Carolina in 2019.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri Nov 26 08:00:06 GMT-04:00 2021

CLEMSON – Clemson heads into the most hostile road environment it has seen this season when the Tigers play South Carolina at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday (7:30 p.m./SEC Network), and Tony Elliott and the coaches are doing everything in their power to make sure their team is focused solely on the Gamecocks. That means the orange britches come out for the state championship.

The Tigers are 8-3 overall and 6-2 in ACC play with an outside shot at winning the ACC Atlantic. However, UNC has to beat NC State Friday and Boston College has to pull off the upset and defeat Wake Forest at noon Saturday. That means by the time the Tigers and Gamecocks kick it off, Clemson will know its ACC fate.

Elliott said that the ACC, however, is not what the Tigers are focused on.

"We are 6-2, and that's out of our control now. We are putting the orange britches and playing for a state championship,” Elliott said. “There will be no discussion about what will happen the following week. We also have a streak of 10-win seasons, and South Carolina is in our way of that. We have a streak going against South Carolina and didn't get to play them last year. What matters is going to Williams-Brice and winning that game. We have a bunch of players that haven't been a part of this rivalry, so we have to get them to understand the magnitude of it, what it mean for both schools, and the state of South Carolina.”

Elliott said the coaches are trying to make sure that quarterback DJ Uiagalelei is aware of what he’s facing in Williams-Brice.

"We have some virtual reality stuff just to give D.J. an idea of what it looks like in Williams-Brice,” Elliott said. “Coach will do a really good job during the week of just virtually creating the mindset of the environment they're going to see. We'll try to re-create the noise on the practice field. Their fans, they show up and give them a good environment. It's going to be a fun game."

Clemson and South Carolina haven’t played in two years on the gridiron, so this will be a first taste of the rivalry for many players. The Gamecock defense is also different than the Will Muschamp-coached group of years’ past.

"I think the back end is a little different than what you've seen in the past. They had an exodus of some really good players, especially their corners. They've got some transfer guys in there,” Elliott said. “Duce Staley's son at linebacker. Jordan Burch and Zacch Pickens, we went hard after those guys so there are familiar faces. I think their strength on defense is their defensive line, therefore they don't have to bring a lot of pressure and they can play man coverage, roll coverages, combo coverages on the back end. They are top-15 in the country in pass defense, so that's going to be a big challenge for us. Where they have given up yards is in the run game, so hopefully, we can take advantage of that."

The good news is that the offense broke through against Wake Forest last week and the offensive line turned in its best performance of the season.

"The guys finally-- I've been telling them all year they've been on the doorstep. Go knock through and take what's yours,” Elliott said. "All it takes is letting loose, playing free, and communicating. I thought Hunter Rayburn played his best game of the season at guard. Used his hands and was physical. The tackles have been playing solid for the most part, it's been the interior. And I think Wake Forest's structure was better suited for Mason Trotter at center with that four-down front."