Vanderbilt defeats South Carolina

After trailing 10-3 at halftime, Vanderbilt went on a 21-0 run in the 3rd and 4th quarters to upset #24 South Carolina 21-17.  It was a classic “lookahead” spot for the Gamecocks, who figured they could phone this one in and focus on their big game at home against Georgia a week from Saturday.  Guess again.  Commodores head coach Bobby Johnson, a native of Columbia, SC (and ironically a graduate of South Carolina’s arch rival Clemson) transformed 1-AA Furman into a powerhouse and has done an excellent job bringing Vandy up to SEC levels despite having the highest academic standards in the conference.

On Thursday night, Johnson’s team gave notice to the SEC that Vanderbilt is by no means a “gimmie” opponent.  South Carolina’s offense continued to struggle, perhaps due to a limited playbook in advance of the Georgia game, as QB Chris Smelley threw two interceptions and was sacked four times.  Smelley was handed the starting job after Tommy Beecher looked awful in the Gamecocks’ season opening win over NC State.  In this case, Smelley—who also threw for 233 yards and 2 TDs—was primarily a victim of his porous offensive line.  Spurrier is no doubt aware of this, and will likely stay with the more consistent and disciplined play of Smelley heading into the Georgia game.

Vandy drew motivation from the fact that their win last year in Columbia against a Gamecock team that was 6-1 and ranked #6 in the country was dismissed as a “fluke”.   The Gamecocks subsequently went into a tailspin that saw them lose their remaining 4 games and stumble to a 6-6 season after that 6-1 start.  Vandy running back Jarred Hawkins, who scored what would prove to be the decisive TD early in the fourth before putting the game on ice with two first down runs late, put it succinctly:

"We're not a blowoff team. We're going to hit you in the mouth”

Steve Spurrier pulled no punches when asked to comment on the game:

“Last year's was just as stunning, and it sort of irritated me that our players tried to say we weren't ready. We were ready to play, we just got our tails kicked. I'm sure those Vanderbilt players are wondering what kind of excuse the South Carolina guys have now. We don't have excuses, they just beat us.”

The Gamecocks have 10 days to regroup before a huge showdown at Columbia’s Williams-Brice Stadium with #2 Georgia.  Vanderbilt, who’s off to a 2-0 start for the first time in 19 years, has a good shot at extending that mark on 9/13 at home against the Rice Owls (3-9 in 2007).