South Carolina Football: Quick hit after blowout win over Vanderbilt

South Carolina football fans are holding out hope for their favorite team playing in a bowl game. That hope is still alive after Saturday afternoon as the Gamecocks whacked the Vanderbilt Commodores in a rain-soaked Williams-Brice Stadium.

In a game that was marred by dropped passes, poor snaps, and altogether difficult-to-grip footballs, mistakes were common. Both the ‘Cocks and the ‘Dores were affected by the weather in a big way, so the football on the field wasn’t always the most beautiful to watch.

In games that are loaded with mistakes on both sides, the team with the most talent usually finds a way to win, and that’s what happened on Saturday. The more talented Gamecocks got out to a 13-0 lead in the game’s first 16 minutes, but that score stuck until halftime.

Right after halftime, Vanderbilt had the ball in the red zone, but the Gamecock D came up big to force the turnover on downs.

With the Gamecocks already leading 20-0, Mario Anderson made the play of the game. After breaking a couple of tackles, it looked as if Anderson was about to be taken down in a large pile of bodies near the 1st down marker. Instead, Anderson spun out of the scrum and raced to the end zone for the 72-yard score.

The shutout ended on the first play of the 4th quarter as Vanderbilt finally got on the scoreboard, but the final score remained a blowout. A few more scores, including a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown and a LaNorris Sellers 36-yard keeper, pushed the final tally to 47-6.

Shane Beamer’s South Carolina football team had its best defensive performance of the season. Sure, Vanderbilt is not a great team, and the weather was bad, but with how badly USC has been on D this year, any good performance is worth celebrating. The offense had a good day that would have been a great day in different weather circumstances.

The Gamecocks hope to ride the momentum from their convincing victory into next week as they welcome the Kentucky Wildcats to Columbia for a 7:30 kick.

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