How can South Carolina catch Clemson?

If the last two years have taught those watching the South Carolina-Clemson game anything, it’s that the gap between the Tigers, a perennial power, and the Gamecocks, who are on the upswing, is wide but could be closing.

The Gamecocks dropped their fourth straight to Clemson Saturday, a 34-10 loss at Williams-Brice. It comes a year after one of the worst losses in series history, a 56-7 drubbing in Clemson.

Saturday’s game was never in doubt after the Tigers went up early in the game, but the gap isn’t as bad as people think, according to USC head coach Will Muschamp.

“In any situation—I’ve learned this being in this game for a long, long time—it’s never as good as it seems and it’s never as bad as it seems,” the head coach said. “It’s somewhere in between.”

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A lot of that had to do with recruiting with Clemson bringing in two top-10 classes from 2013-2017. The lowest the Tigers’ class has ever been rated by Rivals was No. 22 overall in 2017.

Clemson’s average recruiting class over that five-year span was 11.8.

South Carolina on the other hand, averaged a class ranked 18.6 nationally and had its highest finish at No. 16 three times. The Gamecocks have brought in an average star rating of 3.288 while Clemson averaged 3.51 stars.

“We need to continue to recruit. We’re down about 10 scholarships because of the attrition we’ve taken over with. It is what it is. You don’t hear me complaining about it. It’s a situation we’re in and we’re going to continue to develop and recruit.”

The Gamecocks have also struggled in big games over the last two years while Clemson’s thrived in those situations.

They are 1-6 over the last two seasons against ranked opponents while their arch-rival is 10-0 against teams in the top 25 over the same span.

It showed on Saturday with the Tigers looking poised and the Gamecocks still trying to learn how to manage their emotions in big-time atmospheres.

“I just need to work on the small things, the small details,” receiver Bryan Edwards said. “Sometimes we get in the moment and we kind of just lose sight of the small things and it kills us. We just have to keep doing that. As we continue to get more experience, that’ll come.”

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To try and close the gap between the two programs it starts with on-field performance, obviously, and players preparing for and playing better in those types of games.

That comes from increased work in the offseason, attending more voluntary workouts to perform better. It starts on offense with quarterback Jake Bentley and his receivers throwing more over the summer to build that on-field chemistry.

“That comes from offseason workouts, throwing,” Bentley said. “I know (Edwards) and Deebo (Samuel) are going to do a great job of getting every receiver there to throwing sessions this offseason. I’m going to be there. We’re just going to work and get better.”

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But the talent gap that’s been prevalent the last two seasons could be closing.

Currently the Gamecocks are No. 23 in Rivals 2018 recruiting rankings with Clemson at 33. Currently South Carolina has four four-stars and 14 three-stars signed compared to the Tigers’ two five-stars, four four-stars and five three-stars.

It’ll take this cycle and potentially a few others to close the gap considerably, which isn’t lost on Muschamp. He’s devoting a lot of time and resources to recruiting and it was weighing heavily on his mind minutes after losing Saturday.

“We’re going recruiting tomorrow,” he said stone-faced after the game.