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CLEMSON -- You don't have to go back very far to find the last instance of South Carolina entering this rivalry game with abundant hope.

The final score of 30-0 tends to wash away the vibe and narratives that accompanied the game going in.

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The SEC Network crew even got a bit carried away that night, as play-by-play man Taylor Zarzour fist-bumped color man Matt Stinchcomb while saying: "Are you ready for this?"

A few moments later:

"It seems like a fair fight this year, given the way the Gamecocks are playing currently and all the adversity that Clemson has faced this season."

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As it turned out, Clemson's 2021 decline meant nothing. And neither did the uplifting victories over Florida and Auburn that Shane Beamer's first team carried into the game.

The night-game environment at Williams-Brice, plus a team that had been supposedly toughened by the supposedly brutal SEC wars, was supposed to put Clemson in some danger.

It turned out to be the same old, same old: Wide swaths of aluminum in the second half, a river of tail lights flooding away from the stadium, and the Gamecocks once again ravaged and plundered by the team from the Upstate.

Suddenly, the supposed formality of another rivalry demolition is interrupted by a most unexpected piece of evidence. Suddenly eight straight rivalry wins (and yes, they'd be going for nine straight had they played in 2020) doesn't seem like a total guarantee.

At the very least, even the most die-hard Clemson fan had to take some pause upon witnessing arguably the most shocking result of this college football season.

A Gamecock offense that came in an absolute mess, failing to score a touchdown at Florida and totaling 17 touchdowns in seven SEC games, piled up nine in 60 minutes against Tennessee.

You could say the Volunteers' defense is bad and you might not be far off. But you could also say this gets more of your attention than the two wins last year against the Florida and Auburn coaches who are now getting paid lots of money to do nothing.