After an unexpected off week due to Hurricane Florence, the Gamecocks are set to travel to Nashville on Saturday to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores in South Carolina's first SEC road game of the 2018 season.
The Gamecocks lead the overall series 23-4 and have won the past nine games, which is a series record, but only four of the past nine wins have been by double-digits.
If history serves, the Gamecocks are in for another tough matchup with the Commodores this year.
The Gamecocks (1-1, 0-1 SEC) are a 2-point favorite headed into Saturday’s contest, but Vanderbilt (2-1, 0-0 SEC) still has talent on both sides of the ball.
“Offensively, (quarterback) Kyle Shurmur is a four-year starter, an outstanding player,” said Head Coach Will Muschamp at a press conference at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Shurmur, a senior from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has completed 59 of 92 passes this season, thrown for five touchdowns and 754 yards through three games. In Vanderbilt’s loss to Notre Dame last week, he completed 26 of his 43 passes while throwing for 326 yards and one touchdown.
While the statistics from Shurmur are impressive, the Commodores' defense is one of the team's strengths. Three weeks into the 2018 season, Vanderbilt has given up only 13 points per game and 4.4 yards per play, which is good enough for the 18th best defensive unit in the nation.
Even in a loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Commodores only gave up 22 points, which was the lowest point total for Notre Dame this season.
“What you see is a lot of experience and aggressive play, an aggressive style of how they call the game,” said Muschamp.
While the Commodores do present challenges with their defense, South Carolina's players are eager for another hard-hitting battle with an SEC East rival.
“They’re going to take it to you," said quarterback Jake Bentley. "They’re not going to have any quit in them. Really just a physical team that’s going to come hit you as hard as they can.”
Even though South Carolina is facing one of the best defenses in the country, the Gamecocks look to keep their loss to the current No. 2 ranked Georgia Bulldogs in the rearview mirror. The Gamecocks and Commodores will kickoff from Music City at 4 p.m. EST/3 p.m. CST and will be broadcast on the SEC Network.