The South Carolina football team (5-2) hopes history repeats itself when it takes on Vanderbilt at 4 p.m. at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday.
The Gamecocks have won the past eight meetings with Vanderbilt (3-4), including a thrilling 10-point comeback win in last year's season-opener under head coach Will Muschamp.
Fresh off of a bye week, the Gamecocks are coming off two straight SEC wins over Arkansas and Tennessee, while Vanderbilt has been defeated in four straight SEC games. Can this game be the turning point for the Commodores or will the Gamecocks keep rolling through the SEC and earn a bowl berth with their sixth win of the season? The Daily Gamecock sports staff caught up with Vanderbilt Hustler sports editor Culter Klein to preview the upcoming matchup.
Q: The Commodores scored 35 points in their last game against Ole Miss before their bye week, but are still coming off four straight losses in SEC play. What were your observations from the loss to Ole Miss, and how did the team approach the bye week?
A: That game against Ole Miss was supposed to be the turnaround game after three straight losses to ranked opponents. Instead, the Commodores raised more questions than they answered. The offensive line couldn't keep Kyle Shurmur on his feet. The defensive line couldn't stop one of worst rushing offenses in the SEC. This was a bad loss for Vanderbilt. The bye week couldn't have come soon enough. During the week off, this team needed to work on the basic fundamentals of tackling and returning to the habits that won them their first few games of the season. One can only hope that offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig tinkered with some offensive line combinations too.
Q: How can quarterback Kyle Shurmur and the Vanderbilt offense get over the hump Saturday against the Gamecocks and head coach Will Muschamp, who is 4-1 all-time against the Commodores?
A: Kyle Shurmur and his wide receivers have been the only reason that Vanderbilt has been competitive this season. Shurmur has excelled in every single way, and become a real leader of this offense. He'll need to continue to play with confidence and deliver perfect strikes to his receivers. Simultaneously, his receivers need to limit their mistakes and drops. Aside from that, running back Ralph Webb, once the focal point of this offense, will need to find ways to get in space and make plays to jumpstart the offense. All of this is predicated on the offensive line stepping up and giving Shurmur time to throw and Webb space to run. If that doesn't happen, the offense can't get to the next level.
Q: This will be South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley's first game against Vanderbilt. What are the keys for the Vanderbilt defense to defend Bentley and his slew offensive weapons, including Hayden Hurst and Bryan Edwards?
A: To be perfectly honest, Vanderbilt's defensive performance will be determined by how well they stop the run. Vanderbilt's run defense has been quite horrible over the last few games, and if they can do that, they'll have the opportunity to make Bentley and this offense one-dimensional. The defensive line, despite not being able to tackle a running back, has been pretty good at getting to quarterback. Vanderbilt's secondary has also had its flaws, but for the most part, they've been pretty good at not letting quarterbacks have too many easy throws downfield. Their tackling, along with everyone's tackling, could definitely be better.
Q: The last time these two teams faced South Carolina's Elliott Fry kicked a career-long 55-yard field goal with 35 seconds left in the game, leading the Gamecocks to a 13-10 victory. What is your prediction for the South Carolina-Vanderbilt matchup this season (with score) and why?
A: Vanderbilt hasn't beaten South Carolina since 2008, hasn't won in Columbia since 2007 and has only won four times all-time against the Gamecocks. Given their last four games, the odds appear to be stacked against them. However, if there's any consistency with Vanderbilt Football, it's inconsistency. Last season, they followed up consecutive losses to Florida and Kentucky with a shocking upset of the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens. They also followed up an abysmal loss to Missouri on the road with wins over Ole Miss and Tennessee to clinch bowl eligibility. This seems like the perfect week for a magical Vanderbilt turnaround. I'll go with 17-14 Vanderbilt.