Clemson fans won’t like this prediction for the Palmetto Bowl from a former SEC and NFL player, and current college football analyst.
Not only does Roman Harper believe South Carolina will snap its six-game losing streak against Clemson, but the former NFL Pro Bowl safety and Super Bowl Champion thinks the Gamecocks will beat the Tigers by double digits on Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Harper, a former all-SEC player at Alabama and current SEC Network analyst, was asked on the network what the Gamecocks need to do, in his opinion, if they are to get a win over the Tigers.
“If? You mean when,” Harper said. “I’m calling my shot, South Carolina is gonna win this game and they might win by double digits. And I mean barely double digits, but it will happen.”
Harper, who spent nine of his 11 NFL seasons with the New Orleans Saints (2006-13, 2016) and also spent two seasons (2014-15) with the Carolina Panthers, told a story about his neighbor’s son who plays for South Carolina and how the Gamecocks have had this matchup with the Tigers circled on their schedule for quite a while.
“You’ve got to understand what they’re putting into this,” Harper said. “My neighbor, his son goes to South Carolina, and you know what he told his dad? ‘You know what Dad, I can’t make Thanksgiving but for so long because I’ve got to get back to Columbia and get ready to celebrate and be ready to celebrate with my teammates and the rest of my classmates when we go in there and beat Clemson.’ They had to mark this game on the schedule for many more weeks now.”
Harper, a 2020 inductee into the Saints Hall of Fame and a team captain when the Saints won Super Bowl XLIV, gave his thoughts on what he feels South Carolina’s offense needs to do versus Clemson’s defense — and vice versa — in order to beat the Tigers.
“(Senior wide receiver) Josh Vann, (redshirt senior running back) ZaQuandre White, that is how they will do it,” Harper said. “You have to run the football, be specific in the way you do it, and now (redshirt senior quarterback) Jason Brown, protect the football. Protect the football, protect the football. Be ready to go downtown and take your shots versus this ‘organized chaos’ defense of Clemson where they call plays. And they think you’re ready on that situation, but that is when you take advantage of them — second down, play-action passing game.”
“And understand who you’re playing against at quarterback,” Harper added. “D.J. Uiagalelei is good, really good. But when you take away his first look, he’s only a half-field reader. So if he starts to his right, he never gets back to his left. Understand that if I’m a safety, when he starts that way, go that way because that’s where the ball’s going and that’s how it puts you closer to a play being made. Understand those things now. If you don’t know that, if your coach ain’t telling you, listen to me.”
“I’m calling my shot, South Carolina is gonna win this game and they might win by double digits.”@Harp41 is taking @GamecockFB over Clemson 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/9UD4D8o71J
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) November 24, 2021
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