Clowney may need surgery after the season is over
After South Carolina’s 35-25 victory over Vanderbilt, the team has two weeks to relish in the Gamecocks’ 13th straight home win.
Not everyone is excited about the bye week this upcoming weekend, however. Coach Steve Spurrier said it would be nice to have a game where the outcome is evident and where everyone gets their turn on the field.
“I wouldn’t mind to maybe be playing Austin Peay this week,” Spurrier said. “You know you laugh about that, but sometimes you play a team like that, everyone gets to play and everyone feels pretty good and you get to sort of regroup and it’s not a knock-down-drag-out game. We’ve had three in a row now.”
The defense has the biggest question marks heading into the bye week, but showed a little improvement in the win over Vanderbilt, collecting its first two turnovers of the season.
For junior star defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, who added his second sack of the season and first forced fumble of the season against Vanderbilt, the week off will give him time to heal his ailing foot.
“I need it to get my foot back together,” Clowney said. “We practice during the offseason so we don’t really take any days off.”
After the game, Clowney said he may need surgery after the season to remove a bone spur from his foot, but doesn’t plan on missing any time during the regular season.
Offensive showcase
There were plenty of players to get in on the action against Vanderbilt. Four Gamecocks recorded 20 or more rushing yards and three players recorded at least 65 receiving yards. In addition, receiver Bruce Ellington recorded a career-high eight catches for 111 yards and a touchdown for the win.
Spurrier was especially pleased with the play by quarterback Connor Shaw and said the senior received a game ball after the game. Shaw finished 21-29 for 284 yards and three touchdowns.
Junior Dylan Thompson also got in on the action, but made the offense’s only mistake of the day when he threw an interception that was returned to the one-yard line.
The offensive performance was able to mask the problems on special teams.
“We did a lot of good things,” Spurrier said. “We don’t need to be mad. We got a little careless, but that’s the way it happened. We’re not going to get rid of the guys that fumbled. They’re still our guys and they’re still on our team, so hopefully they can learn from it and move on.”
Running backs Mike Davis and Brandon Wilds were two of the players who recorded at least 65 receiving yards.
For Shaw, having tailbacks that can catch a short pass and make it a big gain is a blessing.
“You can’t ask for much more than that,” Shaw said. “You’re just throwing a little one-yard pass and let them do the rest and it’s fun to have those guys back in the backfield.”
No excuse
With the Gamecocks taking a quick 28-0 lead and extending it to 35-10 early in the third quarter, many fans began to exit the stadium. However, the Commodores took advantage of two special teams turnovers to trim the deficit to 10 points with 14 minutes left in the game.
Vanderbilt was in a position to cut the lead to three during the fourth quarter, but a Jimmy Legree interception at the goal line halted that. However, Shaw was not impressed with the crowd Saturday.
“I don’t think there is any excuse for our stands to be emptying out,” Shaw said. “I was kind of disappointed in that.”