The Curse is Broken: Vanderbilt Stomps No. 11 South Carolina 31-7
For the first time since 2017, your Vanderbilt Commodores are 3-0 to start the season, and for the first time since 2008, your Vanderbilt Commodores are victorious over the South Carolina Gamecocks. The Commodores went into Columbia, SC and dominated the #11 Cocks, winning by a final score of 31-7. Let’s dive into the full game recap.
South Carolina won the opening coin toss and deferred to the 2nd half, leaving the ball in Diego Pavia’s hands to start the game. Vandy took the opening drive 73 yards on 9 plays ending with an 18 yard touchdown pass from Diego Pavia to Sedrick Alexander. It was a phenomenal play from Alexander that started with a one-handed snag and ended with an incredible show of body control to get into the end zone.
After giving up the first drive touchdown the Gamecocks turned around and marched right down the field on 7 plays 75 yards ending with a Rahsul Faison 7 yard touchdown run. It seemed effortless for South Carolina and things did not look good for the Commodore defense.
Needing a response to the easy TD drive, the Vanderbilt offense went three and out and had to give the ball back to the Gamecock offense.
It seemed like deja vu, with South Carolina marching back down the field into the red zone on the Commodore defense. The Gamecock offensive line was forcibly moving the Commodore defensive line at will. That was until Steve Gregory and Zaylin Wood confused Sellers by dropping back into coverage and picking off the Quarterback, a huge momentum swing for the Dores.
After punts by both teams, the Commodores got the ball on their own 24 yard line in a tied game. 12 plays and 76 yards later, Diego Pavia found Junior Sherill on a gorgeous whip route for a 5 yard touchdown. The scoring opportunity was due to an 11 yard first down catch for Tre Richardson and a 15 yard run by Richie Hoskins.
Getting the ball at the end of the half down a touchdown and getting the ball after half, Sellers and the Gamecocks looked for a 2-for-1 opportunity. This was until LaNorris Sellers took a hit from Langston Patterson that was deemed egregious enough by replay officials that he should no longer be able to participate in the rest of the game. The result of the hit though was we would not see the star quarterback the rest of the game. Backup Quarterback Luke Doty replaced Sellers in the game and led the Gamecocks into field goal range, where Mason Love missed a 53 yard field goal to end the half. Vanderbilt led 14-7 at half.
Second halves have been the Commodores specialty, most recently last week against Virginia Tech where Vandy scored touchdowns on all 5 offensive possessions of the half. Having a lead this game going into the break, can Clark Lea spark the same fire under a team not with their backs against the wall?
The Vanderbilt defense stood tall to start the half, holding the Gamecocks to 9 yards on 3 plays and setting up a 4th and 1. Would South Carolina have gone for the 4th and 1 if Sellers was in the game? I believe they would have, vastly changing this game.
Pavia and the Commodore offense took the ball off the punt and drove the ball 75 yards on 4 plays ending in the highlight of the night, a 44 yard house call from walk-on Jamezell Lassiter. Someone give this man a scholarship! This was the part of the game you could start to see the spirit break on the Gamecock sideline.
Down two scores, South Carolina had to get a score on this possession to have a chance against the Vanderbilt offense who has the ability to absolutely put the clock in a choke hold. On 4th and 1 from the Vanderbilt 41, Rahsul Faison got stuffed for -3 yards, crushing the Gamecock spirit.
With South Carolina down in the dumps, the Vanderbilt offense marched the ball down the field into the red zone. This was until Pavia made a very uncharacteristic mistake throwing a very bad interception at the goal line straight to Justin Okoronkwo. Had Vandy not turned the ball over and punched it into the end zone, or even gotten a field goal, it would have put the Commodores up by 3 scores and all but ended the game. SOV started creeping into the mind of long time fans of the Commodores, who were yearning to defeat the Gamecocks for the first time in 16 years.
With their backs against the wall and just gaining some momentum, South Carolina needed a score to stay alive. They marched to midfield on the Commodore defense but once again got stuffed on a 4th down attempt. This time was an attempted pass broken up.
Getting the ball at midfield, Vandy needed to drain clock just as much as they needed to score. I would say they halfway accomplished this with a 6 play drive that took almost 4 minutes off the clock ending in a 51 yard field goal from the Brocket Laucher himself, extending the Commodore lead to 24-7.
South Carolina finished their final three offensive drives all with turnovers, 2 fumbles one by Luke Doty and one by Isaiah Augustave, and an interception in the end zone to end the offensive nightmare that was the South Carolina Gamecock’s Saturday night. For those counting at home that is 5 straight possessions to end the game that ended in a turnover either by giving up the ball or on downs.
Vanderbilt officially buried the Gamecocks on a 4 yard Touchdown run by Sedrick Alexander, a perfect finishing touch to what was an absolute masterclass by the Commodore offensive line.
