Time to go bowling: South Carolina picks up 6th win of 2024 season in dominant fashion against Vanderbilt

Streaks in sports are meant to be broken. One specific streak in South Carolina football’s recent history that has stood the test of time is its all-time series over Vanderbilt.

Heading into Saturday’s contest, the Gamecocks had won 15 straight games against the Commodores. But, for much of that time, Vanderbilt found itself near the bottom of the SEC standings.

That hasn’t been the case this year, though. The Commodores, which have engaged in close battles with some of the country’s top teams, earned bowl eligibility nine games into the 2024 season.

By defeating Vanderbilt, South Carolina would do the same. And that’s exactly what happened at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, as the Gamecocks picked up their sixth win of the season in a 28-7 victory over the Commodores.

“(I’m) really, really proud of our football team,” Shane Beamer said. “This isn’t an easy place to play for a lot of reasons. To come in here against another ranked team and to have another, three-touchdown-plus win over an S E C team to become bowl eligible as well to get, to become the first South Carolina team, I think, since 2011 to win three SEC road games, is a huge accomplishment.”

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Vanderbilt (6-4, 3-3 SEC) began the game with four straight rushes, gaining 14 yards on those attempts. Diego Pavia then threw an incomplete pass facing a third-and-nine situation, which ushered the Commodores’ punt team onto the field.

On its first offensive possession, South Carolina (6-3, 4-3 SEC) orchestrated a lengthy drive that lasted six minutes and 39 seconds. The Gamecocks collected 62 yards on 15 plays before Alex Herrera lined up for a 43-yard field goal attempt. Herrera’s effort sailed wide right, keeping the game scoreless.

As the clock wore down in the first quarter, both teams engaged in a brief game of “hot potato,” fumbling the football on back-to-back possessions. LaNorris Sellers aimed to scramble on a first-down play at the Gamecocks’ 15-yard line, only for the ball to be swatted out of his arms and recovered by a Vanderbilt defender.

But two plays later, the Commodores gave the ball right back to South Carolina. Kyle Kennard earned a strip sack on Pavia and was the first player to pounce on the ball, allowing the Gamecocks to re-gain possession.

South Carolina would eventually capitalize on the turnover, but not until the beginning of the second quarter. Sellers found Nyck Harbor for a 23-yard reception on the Gamecocks’ third play of the period. On its next snap, Sellers completed a 17-yard pass to Joshua Simon in the end zone. The score gave South Carolina a 7-0 lead.

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“We ran something similar the play right before. And I’d seen what Coach (Dowell) Loggains had seen, and when he called it again, I was like, ‘It’s either coming to me or Mike (Michael Smith),” Simon said. “When I released, I noticed I was open. I looked and I saw the ball, and I knew the safety was somewhere. And I caught it – touchdown.”

That touchdown resulted in the only points scored by either team at the game’s halfway point. But, in what appeared to be a hard-fought defensive battle, the Gamecocks held the advantage.

While South Carolina’s offense gained 187 total yards in the first half, its defense allowed just 83. Thirty-nine of those yards came on Vanderbilt’s final drive of the second quarter, which included a play where Pavia escaped a sack and hurdled a Gamecock defender on his way to a 16-yard rush.

The Gamecocks’ first possession of the second half began much like its first of the game. Although South Carolina started the drive at its 25-yard line, it was pushed back to the 15-yard line after a holding call.

But this time around, the Gamecocks took a lot quicker than six minutes and 39 seconds to march down the field. And it would serve as the impetus for an offensive outburst in the third quarter.

Sellers started the drive with a play similar to Pavia’s near the end of the first half. Facing pressure from Vanderbilt’s defensive line, he also had to scramble away from a sack. But instead of running, he fired a deep pass to Jared Brown that resulted in a 51-yard gain.

Two plays later, Rocket Sanders erupted for a 33-yard run to the end zone. With the score, South Carolina doubled its advantage.

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Vanderbilt provided a quick response on its next drive, though. The Commodores’ 10-play, 75-yard drive was punctuated by a 17-yard touchdown run from Pavia.

Sanders’ strong start to the third quarter carried over into the Gamecocks’ ensuing offensive possession. He completed another long rush – this time, for 39 yards – to bring South Carolina into the red zone. After Sellers was ruled to have stepped out of bounds at Vanderbilt’s one-yard line on a diving attempt for a touchdown, Sanders punched the ball into the end zone for six more points.

“Whether it be the beginning of the game, whether it be the first drive of the second half, whether it be after Vanderbilt scored, we went right back down the field on them, and that’s the mark of a really good team – which we are,” Beamer said.

The Gamecocks’ and the Commodores’ exchange of scoring blows would end on the home team’s next possession. Facing a fourth-and-eight situation at South Carolina’s 36-yard line, Vanderbilt elected to go for a first down. But Pavia’s pass attempt was nearly intercepted and fell incomplete, resulting in a turnover on downs.

That wouldn’t be the only time Vanderbilt would attempt to convert a fourth down against the Gamecocks’ defense. But the Commodores’ efforts would have the same end result. Bam Martin-Scott deflected another Pavia pass attempt at the line of scrimmage to force another turnover on downs.

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The takeaway would be another one South Carolina would later capitalize on. Four plays after re-gaining possession, the Gamecocks found the end zone on a 43-yard pass from Sellers to Sanders, who scored his third touchdown of the contest.

“A lot of people don’t understand that seeing that green grass is harder than not seeing green grass. (When) you see green grass, it’s like you tend to go where your mom wants to take you. That’s why I feel like that fumble happened last game,” Sanders said. “When I see green grass, it’s like, ‘Man, lovely.’ You got to take advantage of it.”

He finished the game with 178 total yards on 17 combined rush attempts and receptions.

“I would hope, not that he was ever unhealthy, but just healthier – that his body came off an off week, and he’s been able to knock some of the rust off and whatnot,” Beamer said. “Certainly, we’ve been better around him from a offensive standpoint, and that helps. The perimeter blocking – we had the long run tonight. Everybody was screaming at whoever that was – JB (Brown) or Nyck or somebody – just get out of the way so this rocket could go.”

Next up

The Gamecocks will look to extend their winning streak to three games when they take on No. 24 Missouri (6-2, 2-2 SEC) at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 16. Kickoff is set for 4:15 p.m. The game will be aired on the SEC Network.

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