CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

TAKE TWO: Can Notre Dame land up-and-comer Jordan Johnson?

Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling an issue in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites or regional analyst.

The intrigue surrounding the recruitment of five-star defensive end Jordan Burch has been heightened because the Columbia (S.C.) Hammond School star simply does not do many interviews. He does not give many hints about what he’s thinking.

And so speculation fills the void. One thing is for sure: This looks like it could be an in-state battle between the hometown Gamecocks and the national champion Clemson Tigers.

For many months, the feeling around Burch’s recruitment was that Clemson was going to land his services. So many elite defensive linemen have played for the Tigers, the fact that numerous players across the defensive line will be taken early in the NFL Draft and Clemson’s domination on the field in recent years could be playing a role in his thinking.

Then the last three weeks happened. The Hammond School standout has visited South Carolina on back-to-back-to-back weekends for spring practice and then the Gamecocks’ spring game on Saturday. Former five-stars Zacch Pickens and Jadeveon Clowney are names South Carolina can use when going after Burch, who is clearly interested.

The five-star does not say much. Hints come at a premium. So which program - South Carolina or Clemson - should feel best about landing Burch at this point?

“The interesting thing about Burch is that there has been a lot of speculation about which way he’s leaning because he really doesn’t do interviews hardly at all and very little information comes out of his camp. So it’s been really difficult to tell exactly what’s taking place with his recruitment.

“A lot of people felt Clemson had the edge for months now, but the interesting thing that I don’t think you can discount is this is the third-straight weekend he’s been at South Carolina. For him to take in two-straight spring practices and then be back at the spring game, that’s three-straight Saturdays. Just sort of reading the tea leaves that speaks to some momentum for South Carolina. What it means big picture and where it goes from here is hard to say, but I think it’s safe to say South Carolina does have some momentum right now.”

“South Carolina will be in there. It’s an in-state program, he’s shown a lot of interest in it, these aren’t just courtesy visits. He’s very interested in the program and it has done very well with defensive ends. They got Pickens last year, Clowney speaks for itself. They can recruit the defensive line very well.

“Clemson has the momentum because of the kids they’re putting in the draft and the success they’ve had and the national championships, but I would not count South Carolina out of this. A lot of people are saying Burch and Bryan Bresee are pretty much already committed to Clemson. We have a long way to go in this process. Even if they commit early, they can change their mind, so South Carolina is going to be there until the end.”