Battle Of The Carolinas Kicks Off Tonight

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — The border battle between the Tar Heels and Gamecocks is just hours away.  The reoccurring question over the last few days has been, how will South Carolina’s defense match up with North Carolina’s uptempo offense?

“They try to do a little bit like Clemson. Snap it quickly and go. A lot of teams are doing that. Of course, the answer is you stop them and make them punt. The other answer is hopefully your offense can stay on the field a bit. We’ve been fortunate to do that against Clemson the last two years. But who knows what will happen this game,” Head Football Steve Spurrier said at Sunday’s press conference. 

Last season, the Tar Heels first season under head coach Larry Fedora, UNC ranked 14th in the nation in yards per game with 485.58 yards per game according to NCAA stats. This is comparable with teams like Clemson who ranked 9th with 512.69 yards per game and Oregon who ranked 5th with 537.38 ypg.

The Gamecock defense ranked 11th in the nation for only allowing 315.54 yards per game.

The Gamecocks held the Tigers to 328 yards and 17 points in their game last season. 

Tonight the question will be, can the Gamecocks tame the North Carolina offense or can the Tar Heels stampede down the field over the South Carolina defense?

ABCColumbia.com will have constant updates throughout tonight’s game and video of comments from coaches and players after the game.