Cooper turns in career day against Commodores
Vanderbilt had barely put up a fight against its three opponents prior to South Carolina, but if we've learned anything from the 2014 Gamecocks, it’s to expect the unexpected.
No. 14 South Carolina survived Saturday in Nashville, escaping Vanderbilt Stadium with a 48-34 win. But to say head coach Steve Spurrier was disappointed in the Gamecocks’ effort would be an understatement for the ages.
“The way we play is embarrassing,” he said. “And I’m the head coach of this embarrassing group of guys.”
South Carolina’s path into its head coach’s bad graces began immediately, as Vanderbilt’s Darrius Sims took the opening kick-off 91 yards for a touchdown. The Commodores would expand their lead to 14-0 before South Carolina could even get on the board.
After that, the Gamecocks would score 24 uninterrupted points to take the lead for good.
It was, by most accounts, a good day at the stadium for the South Carolina offense. Redshirt senior quarterback Dylan Thompson threw for 237 yards and three scores and junior running back Mike Davis collected 112 all-purpose yards on the day.
But it was sophomore wideout Pharoh Cooper who stole the show against the Commodores, hauling in a career-high 10 catches for 114 yards on top of his 74 yards on the ground.
“Pharoh, he can just do it all,” Thompson said. “He’s a humble kid that comes to work every day, and you’ve got to appreciate that.”
The only thing missing from Cooper’s impressive stat line is a touchdown, but he did come half of a yard short of a score in the fourth quarter when he took a shotgun snap 70 yards before being tackled at the goal line.
“I want to be a guy our team can count on,” Cooper said. “Whether it be any position I’m in, through special teams or Wildcat or receiver, I want to be a guy that the whole team can count on.”
Vanderbilt Stadium hasn't typically been a hospitable place for the Gamecocks. The last time they visited Nashville, it took some late magic from Connor Shaw to pull out a 17-13 win over the Commodores. That, on top of a banner day for several offensive players, should be a recipe for encouragement after the win, but once you go below the surface, there are a host of red flags that shot up Saturday night.
The Gamecock defense looked like it took a significant step back against a decidedly inferior opponent. The special teams unit was no better, allowing a second kick-off return touchdown in the third quarter.
And based on the pulse of the locker room, the players are just as alarmed as their head coach about the performance they turned in against Vanderbilt.
“We can’t play like that,” Thompson said. “We've got to sharpen up in every facet of the game.”
The execution was suspect in the beginning of the game, with Thompson admittedly overthrowing his receivers on some occasions and his targets outright dropping the ball on others.
But the idea was also to blame. For virtually the entire first quarter — until there were less than 10 seconds left in the period — South Carolina refused to run the ball.
Questionable tactics like this, combined with South Carolina’s at-times miserable defense and its slow-to-start offense, are the reason Spurrier and his team take no solace in Saturday’s victory.
But the Gamecocks won, just like they did last week against Georgia and the week before that against East Carolina. And with the meat of its SEC schedule still ahead of it, it’s yet to be seen if South Carolina’s shortcomings will prove insurmountable again this season.
“We've all seen good football teams, we ain't one of them,” Spurrier said. “But maybe we can be. I don’t know. It’s no fun for me watching us play.”