South Carolina football: Gamecock set for road matchup vs Vanderbilt

The South Carolina football team travels to Nashville for its week three matchup.

Tomorrow, the Gamecocks will face off against SEC East foe Vanderbilt as they look to notch their first win of the young season. The game is set to kick off at noon and will be aired on the SEC Network.

The Gamecocks are coming off of a 38-24 defeat to the fourth-ranked Florida Gators in Gainesville. The team battled back from a 24-point deficit, with a chance to cut the lead to seven late in the fourth quarter, but dropped passes and late-game mistakes cost the Gamecocks a chance at victory.

Vanderbilt, also sitting at 0-2, has had a similar start. They dropped a close battle to Texas A&M in the opener, before being unable to stop a high-powered LSU attack, losing 41-7 last week.

The Gamecocks have won 11 straight meetings in the series, dating back to the 2008 season. They’ll look to keep that streak alive and escape with a conference road win.

TEAM OUTLOOKS

SOUTH CAROLINA

South Carolina has struggled on defense in back-to-back weeks, particularly in the secondary. The Gamecocks have allowed 30 or more points in four straight matchups dating back to last season, and they currently rank 11th in the conference in points allowed (34.5 pts/game).

The offense, though, has kept South Carolina in both games, and quarterback Collin Hill is a big reason why. Through two games, he’s sitting at sixth in the SEC in passing, averaging over 250 yards a game. He’s been able to lead the Gamecock attack to 27- and 24-point outputs against two of the conference’s better defenses.

Unfortunately, special teams blunders, dropped passes, and untimely turnovers have kept the team out of the win column. They’ll try to change that this weekend.

VANDERBILT

Vanderbilt enters the game with the SEC’s worst offense in terms of scoring, averaging just 8.5 points a contest. The defense held strong in a 17-12 loss to Texas A&M in week one, but a late interception thwarted any chance of an upset. Last week versus LSU, both units struggled, as the Commodores lost 41-7.

Despite the numbers, the Vanderbilt offense has been efficient at moving the ball between the 20s, but redzone mistakes have plagued the unit through the first two games. Freshman signal caller Ken Seals has thrown three interceptions inside his own 10-yard line, with one of those being the aforementioned pick as the Commodores were driving for the go-ahead score versus the Aggies.

Both of these teams feel that they’ve let games slip through their fingers due to self-inflicted mistakes, and both will be eager to get the taste of defeat from their mouths.