The 3-2-1: Three key plays, two game balls, one burning question from South Carolina's loss to Vanderbilt

In this week’s The 3-2-1, we break down the three key plays, two game balls, and one burning question from South Carolina’s loss to Vanderbilt.

Three Key Plays
1. Interception
South Carolina moved the ball well on its first two drives. The first possession ended in a touchdown, and the second got inside the Vanderbilt 15. But on third and nine, LaNorris Sellers didn’t get enough air on a pass to Oscar Adaway, and defensive lineman Zaylin Wood leapt for the interception. Adding to the frustration, not only was Adawy open for the touchdown, so was tight end Jordan Dingle.

2. Targeting
There’s too much to unpack on this play to get into all the details, but these are the key points. Sellers passed to Rahsul Faison in the flat, and after he got rid of the ball, Langston Patterson hit Sellers high. Sellers was down after the hit for several minutes before being helped off. Backup quarterback Luke Doty came in, and immediately hit Nyck Harbor on a deep post, with nothing but grass in front of him – only for the play to be blown dead so replay could look at the hit that happened nearly five minutes earlier. Replay needed about 30 seconds to rule that there was targeting on Patterson (not suspicious at all). Then the officials needed another three minutes to remember to add 15 yards to the spot because of the penalty. 

It’s hard to argue that the officials handled any part of the sequence well, but the bigger impact was that South Carolina lost Sellers for the rest of the game. South Carolina had 94 yards on 6-7 passing, 45 yards rushing, and seven first downs when Sellers got hurt 20 minutes into the game. In the remaining 40 minutes, South Carolina had just 189 yards and 13 first downs.

3. Third down
Pick just about any of them, and I can tell you what probably happened. If Vanderbilt was on offense, the Commodores found a way to pick up the first down, regardless of the yards to go. If South Carolina had the ball, regardless of how many yards the Gamecocks needed, they didn’t get it. Vanderbilt finished 6-12 on third down (including 0-2 in the fourth quarter when the Commodores were simply running out the clock) and 1-1 on fourth. South Carolina was 4-12 on third and 1-3 on fourth. It’s really tough to win like that.

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Two Game Balls
Rahsul Faison
For the first time this season, South Carolina actually had a rushing threat, and we saw why the Gamecocks were so excited to bring in Faison. Like the rest of the offense, his production fizzled after Sellers was hurt, and then as South Carolina had to pass to try to come back. But his 74 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries were a silver lining.

Nyck Harbor
Harbor had four catches on four targets for 66 yards, but this isn’t about the numbers. He ran crisp routes, caught the ball cleanly, and ran well after the catch (and should have had a touchdown, but…). Basically, he looked like a legitimate wide receiver, not an athlete still learning the position. Harbor also added a 43-yard kick return late, in case you forgot that he is fast.

One Burning Question
How long will LaNorris Sellers be out?
Through a quarter and some change Saturday night, it looked like the Gamecock offense had finally figured things out. The Gamecocks were on pace for over 400 yards before Sellers was injured on a play that was ruled targeting. Without Sellers, the Gamecock offense was stuck in neutral.

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