College GameDay set to visit Columbia for South Carolina-Missouri game.
Something in the water
While South Carolina’s 48-34 win against Vanderbilt Saturday could be characterized as anything other than convincing, it seems indicative of the Gamecocks’ recent struggles against the Commodores. South Carolina has seemingly made a habit out of narrowly escaping its annual Vanderbilt game, avoiding an embarrassing upset in the process. It almost happened last year in South Carolina’s 35-25 win at home, and again in the team’s 17-14 season-opening victory in 2012. A higher ranking hardly ever results in a smooth sail against the Commodores. The past eight times the two teams have met up, the Gamecocks have been ranked in the AP top 25, including their highest ranking — No. 6 — in series history in 2007. The Gamecocks fell 17-6 that year, then lost to Vanderbilt again the following year 24-17. Since then, the Commodores have typically found a way to keep things close. Three of the last six games in the series have been decided by 10 or fewer points.
Defense wins championships
In the 53-year history of the South Carolina/Vanderbilt series, the most points ever given up by the Gamecocks was 34. That came Saturday night. Missed tackles and poor coverage led to 379 total yards for the Commodore offense, the most collected by the unit all year. Inversely, the 379 total yards surrendered by the Gamecocks is the lowest total the defense has given up all season. South Carolina’s first three games of the year pitted them against top tier offenses like Texas A&M, East Carolina and Georgia, but the same cannot be said about the team’s fourth and most recent opponent. Vanderbilt’s offense ranks 121st out of 124 teams, while Texas A&M ranks second, East Carolina seventh and Georgia 38th.
"Vanderbilt has not been an offensive juggernaut in the SEC and we did hold them to not a lot of points,” head coach Steve Spurrier said. “We did some good plays here and there, but we can’t brag about what we did defensively here today.”
Gamecocks in the SEC
Dylan Thompson - Second in passing yards (1140)
Dylan Thompson - Tied for third in touchdowns (11)
Elliot Fry - Tied for first in field goals made (7)
Brison Williams - Second in interception yards (53)
Home sweet Horseshoe
ESPN announced Sunday that College GameDay will return to South Carolina and will feature the Gamecocks’ SEC East matchup with Missouri. It will be the seventh time College GameDay has visit Columbia, with the most recent visit coming in 2012 when No. 6 South Carolina thrashed No. 5 Georgia 35-7. The Gamecocks won three of the last four games when they have hosted College GameDay.
Nov. 10, 2001: No. 4 Florida 54 - No. 14 South Carolina 17
Sept. 11, 2004: No. 3 Georgia 20 - South Carolina 16
Aug. 31, 2005: South Carolina 24 - UCF 15
Oct. 28, 2006: No. 8 Tennessee 31 - South Carolina 24
Oct. 9, 2010: No. 19 South Carolina 31 - No. 1 Alabama 28
Oct. 6, 2012: No. 6 South Carolina 35 - No. 5 Georgia 7
A win is a win
Head coach Steve Spurrier picked up his 202nd SEC win Saturday night, breaking his tie with former Georgia coach Vince Dooley for second on the list. But shortly after the Head Ball Coach etched his name into the history books, he was highly critical of the win that got him there.
"It’s one of the worst I have ever had, no question” he said. “The way we play is embarrassing.”
Spurrier trails only legendary Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, who notched 292 career SEC victories.