This is the longest uninterrupted series in the South as the Gamecocks and Tigers get together for the 109th consecutive year. They’ve met since 1896 and every year since 1909.

For the sixth time in eight years, Clemson and South Carolina will meet under the lights, a suggestion from national television brass that it’s worthy to draw a wide audience.

Clemson has won three straight in the series, a streak that followed a five-game winning streak by the Gamecocks. Clemson will pursue its ninth four-game winning streak in the series and its first since 2002-05.

Here are 10 bold predictions for the game in Williams-Brice Stadium:

1. South Carolina will have no shortage of motivation to, at the very least, keep it closer than last’s 56-7 loss. That led to the Gamecocks to promise “Never Again,” a slogan that’s posted around the football facility.

“Just from a standpoint of competing,” coach Will Muschamp said after beating Wofford last week, according to The State. “When the chips got down, we had some guys that didn’t compete. It wasn’t the whole team. We had a bunch of guys who competed their butts off, but we got outcoached and outplayed and it starts with me. That was the message from me to our football team, we got outcompeted in the game and that can’t happen.”

2. South Carolina has reason for optimism. The Gamecocks should have a level of confidence they haven’t felt in years, and for the young roster, that could carry weight. South Carolina has not won eight games in a season since 2013, and few players, like linebacker Skai Moore, who was a freshman, were on the roster.

3. The Clemson pass rush will be a problem. The Tigers defensive line has long been a strength during the program’s recent run of success, and that includes this season. They lead the ACC with 39 sacks. In six games, they’ve recorded at least four sacks, and most notably, they had 11 sacks against Auburn.

4. Jake Bentley will pass for more yards than Kelly Bryant. Both have struggled in recent weeks against FBS opponents. For Kelly, the previous two games before The Citadel were arguably his worst of the season, as he had several passes where he overthrew several receivers and completed 59 percent of his passes with one touchdown and one interception. But collectively, they may have been his most effective two-game stretch running the ball this season. Similarly, Bentley has been more dangerous with his legs against recent FBS foes than with his arm. After all, he had two touchdowns each rushing against Vanderbilt and Florida. But against Georgia and Florida, he had a combined five interceptions after he had just four in the previous eight games.

5. Bentley will have a better game than last year. This is a fairly low bar. If you recall, Bentley was 7-for-17 passing for 41 yards and an interception and suffered a first-half knee injury. It’s difficult to find a clunker of a game for Bentley this season when looking over the complete body of work. Sure, there were the games with the flurry of interceptions, but by and large, he’s found other ways, like running the ball, to be effective.  Overall, he’s completed less than 60 percent of his passes in just three games. He stands at fourth in the SEC in passing.

6. The Gamecocks will be active in the turnover department. The Gamecocks rank tied for 14th in the nation for turnover margin and tied for 20th in turnovers gained. South Carolina is second in the SEC in turnover margin behind Alabama. The Gamecocks have 21 turnovers and have given up 12, which is tied for 14th in America.

7. Skai Moore will make an interception to establish a new school record. Last week, Moore, a linebacker, made his third interception of the season, which gave him 14 in his career, which tied him with Bo Davies, who played from 1969-71, for the school record. Two of those 14 for Moore have come against Clemson.

8. South Carolina gets creative offensively. In part because of its inconsistent running game, and the Clemson defensive front, Kurt Roper will look to either increase the pace, or pull some trick plays the Gamecocks haven’t used this season. The Gamecocks don’t have enough weapons to play Clemson straight up without some surprises offensively, or even on special teams.

9. South Carolina will struggle running the ball. It’s been an up and down season rushing for the Gamecocks. In four games, they’ve rushed for less than 60 yards, while in five games, they’ve rushed for at least 172 yards. That doesn’t bode well against the ACC’s top rushing defense. The Tigers have allowed just five TDs, and 116 yards per game.

10. It will be close enough that Dabo Swinney won’t have the margin to burn rivalry timeouts. Of course, Clemson called back-to-back timeouts last year on its final offensive drive of the game to give its upperclassmen a curtain call. While the Tigers began the week 14-point favorites, there aren’t many that envision a repeat of last year’s 56-7 result.