South Carolina-Vanderbilt 3-2-1: Three key plays, two game balls, one burning question

Three Key Plays

1. Xavier Legette rushes for nine yards

South Carolina’s first offensive play of the game gave away the game plan. It was an end around to wide receiver Legette, and he picked up nine yards. Shane Beamer said after the game, “We weren’t going to come out of here saying we need to do a better job of getting our best players the ball.” Whether it was end-arounds, reverses, wildcat snaps, flea flickers, or whatever else you could dream up, South Carolina tried it. Not everything worked, but enough of it did. South Carolina rushed 35 times for 208 yards, and only called a traditional running play maybe ten times.

2. South Carolina converts third and 19

South Carolina isn’t very good at converting long third downs, but it got a few on Saturday night. The biggest probably came in the second quarter when a holding penalty had South Carolina backed up on its own 19 and facing third and 19. Spencer Rattler was able to elude pressure and fire downfield to Antwane Wells, who got just past the sticks for a first down. The drive ended with another great throw from Rattler to Josh Vann in the end zone to give South Carolina a commanding 31-14 halftime lead.

3. Rattler scrambles on third and 20

Even though South Carolina had already converted a third and 19, there aren’t a lot of plays for third and 20, especially when your pass protection is shaky. So when Rattler stepped up in the pocket and then took off for a 15-yard gain, it felt like a win. Instead of punting, South Carolina was now in field goal range and could add to its lead. Of course, South Carolina could also run a fake field goal, which it did, and pick up a first down, which it did, and then add a touchdown (South Carolina’s only score of the second half), which it also did. But none of that would have happened if not for Rattler’s heads up play to pick up what he could and get down.

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Two Game Balls

Spencer Rattler

Rattler didn’t put up huge numbers (he didn’t even get 200 yards passing), but with MarShawn Lloyd out South Carolina spread the ball around, and Rattler was at the center of it all. His three touchdown passes were strikes, and the throw to Josh Vann in the corner of the end zone, where only Vann could get it, was nearly perfect. Rattler also had the key scramble and did a good job throwing on the run. Most importantly, he didn’t commit a turnover. 

O’Donnell Fortune

Fortune forced a fumble that was recovered by the Gamecocks and then intercepted a pass. Both turnovers came in the final five minutes of the game. Forcing turnovers is sometimes luck, but credit Fortune for being in the right place at the right time.

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One Burning Question

Will the real South Carolina please stand up?

Good luck trying to figure out what you’ll see from South Carolina week to week. Last week the offense looked hopelessly vanilla and overly reliant on one player, Lloyd. This week South Carolina looked deep and versatile, as nine different players caught a pass and eight different players carried the ball. A week after barely picking up 200 yards of offense, South Carolina had 492 yards. Missouri has a better defense than Vanderbilt, but not that much better. Meanwhile, South Carolina’s defense is inconsistent against the run and susceptible to giving up big pass plays. Buckle your seatbelts, because next week South Carolina plays equally unpredictable Florida.

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