South Carolina football: Gamecocks open as two-score favorites
By Jacob Elsey
The South Carolina football team takes on Vanderbilt in week three.
The South Carolina football team is coming off of a second straight loss to begin its 2020 campaign, having been taken down by the Florida Gators in the Swamp last Saturday, 38-24. Still, the Gamecocks have opened the week as two-touchdown favorites for its next contest.
South Carolina travels to Nashville this weekend for its second consecutive road game to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores. Experts in Las Vegas have set the starting line at -13.5 in favor of the Gamecocks, the first time this season that the team has been favored.
The Gamecocks have performed to the Vegas projections early in the year, having lost to Tennessee by four (+3.5 pt spread) and Florida by 14 (+16.5 pt spread). Now, we’ll see how the team fares when projected to win.
The Commodores come into the matchup winless after a close 17-12 loss in College Station to Texas A&M in the opener, and a 41-7 loss to defending national champion LSU last weekend. Vanderbilt is led by Derek Mason, who’s now in his sixth year with the program. He’s compiled a 27-49 record over those six seasons.
The offense is led by freshman quarterback Ken Seals, who’s thrown for 263 yards, two scores, and four interceptions through two games. The Vanderbilt backfield will see Ja’Veon Marlow and Jamauri Wakefield carry the load. Those two have already combined for 64 carries and 237 rushing yards.
The defense left a lot to be desired in last week’s matchup, but they effectively shut down Kellen Mond and the Aggies’ offense in week one. South Carolina will need to show consistency and cut down on drops when they travel to Nashville if they want to avoid the upset.
The Gamecocks will look to earn their 12th straight win in the series on Saturday. The last Commodore win came back in the 2008 season, when Vanderbilt took down a 24th ranked South Carolina squad in the season opener. The Gamecocks won last year’s meeting by a score of 24-7. Head coach Will Muschamp is 7-1 all-time against the Commodores.