Seeing Stars

First in academics, last in the SEC.

That has long been the calling card of Vanderbilt University. With 6,400 undergraduates, the smallest student body amongst the conference’s 12 member schools and the designation as the league’s only private institution, Vandy has always whipped the competition in the classroom, and taken a whipping between the white lines.

Don’t tell that to the South Carolina Gamecocks.

For two straight years, the team that hasn’t been ranked in the final national polls since the Truman administration, the team that hadn’t had a winning season in over a quarter of a century, the team that hadn’t won a bowl game in over half a century, the team that has had 47 losing seasons since the end of World War II, has beaten USC.

“They outplayed us the last two years; that’s why they beat us, simple as that,” USC coach Steve Spurrier said. “They outplayed us, outcoached us, outhit us, ‘outcourageous-ed us, whatever you want to call it.”

It started in 2007; what seemed like a pushover game became a nightmare, as Vandy raced out to a 17-0 lead on the then-No. 6 Gamecocks, silencing a packed Williams-Brice Stadium with a 17-6 upset – the school’s biggest upset since 1937, first win over Carolina since 1999, and the first against a Spurrier coached team in 15 tries. The woes became magnified last fall, when the Gamecocks traveled to Nashville, and fell 24-17 on national television. Now, with Vanderbilt returning to Columbia for the first time since ’07, the unpleasant past is dragged back to the forefront. USC has only one way to put it behind them for good — win.

“We’re able to beat these guys and we know we can beat them,” sophomore receiver Jason Barnes said. “We’ve got that in our head, and we can do it.”

It would seem reasonable that Carolina might feel a bit of pressure. The Gamecocks insist they don’t feel any at all.

“I wouldn’t say [there’s] pressure. Our next game is always our biggest game.  We have lost the last two years to them,” senior center Lemuel Jeanpierre said. “They were both very disappointing.”

Barnes agrees.

“I don’t think anybody’s feeling any pressure. We’re all going out and practicing hard. Coach said we were going to have harder practices this week so we’re all going out and practicing harder,” Barnes said. “Everybody’s trying to do their assignment and go out and play assignment perfect football. We can’t beat ourselves.”

Many have questioned if Carolina has lost these last two years because they simply didn’t take Vanderbilt seriously. If one was to ask the players and coaches, that sentiment may be echoed.

“I think that their ranking really got to some of [the USC] players’ heads,” Ajiboye said. “We didn’t practice as hard. We thought that the game was supposed to be won instead of earned.”

However, the “looking ahead” disorder doesn’t seem to be a problem this time. All week long, it has been stressed – USC isn’t taking Vandy lightly.

“They are a good, tough bunch of guys who make very few mistakes, and if you’re going to beat them, you got to beat them,” Spurrier said. “They are not good at beating themselves.”

Part of what made the 2007 game so infamous was the aftereffect. The loss was the first of a five-game slide, which saw USC fall from a nationally ranked 6-1 team to a 6-6 team without a bowl invitation. The Gamecocks don’t see it that way.

“I don’t think anything after that loss really sent us into a tailspin. There was no specific thing you can point out that made us all go down,” Jeanpierre said. “I feel like we were all still working hard. We were still out there fighting.”

Still, the thought lingers. Unlike last year, when the Vanderbilt game was the second of the season, this year’s comes at the same time as the 2007 meeting – seven games in. Lose, and it will seem like déjà vu all over again. Spurrier is confident though that this team is above such a collapse.

“Every year is a new team. It’s not the same guys as two years ago or even last year,” he said. “We have a whole bunch of new starters on offense and defense. The attitude has been very good. The team spirit has been good.”

Talk only goes so far. To break the Vandy hex, Carolina will have to perform on the field and reverse the woes that have plagued them against the Commodores the past two seasons. Step one is winning the turnover battle. Carolina is -4 in that department the past two games.

“We had more yards than they did last year, but that does not determine the winner. I think we had more turnovers each of the last two years and that’s one big reason [for losing],” Spurrier said. “We are going to try and play a little bit smarter as far as the turnovers are concerned. That has been the problem in our losses.”

USC also has to get the job done at the end. The fourth quarter has been rough for Carolina against Vandy; a valiant defensive effort by the Commodores protecting the lead in 2007, and a game-winning drive stealing the contest in ’08.

“We just know that we had to fight, scratch and claw and hang in there at the end of the game. That’s exactly what we did the last two times we played against them,” Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson said. “We played well in the fourth quarter of both of those contests and that’s why we pulled them out.”

On paper, this game shouldn’t be much of a contest. The Commodores are 2-5; 0-4 in the SEC. However, given the history, Carolina can’t afford to think like that.

“We all know the importance of the game. Vanderbilt has outplayed us for two years; that’s why we’ve lost to them,” Spurrier said. “They kicked our tails and outplayed us. And if they outplay us Saturday night, there’s a chance they’ll beat us again.”

Just like the past two years, Vandy will not be the favorite. Just like the last two years, Vandy has a chip on its shoulder.

“They have something to prove. For the underdogs, they can be dangerous,” Ajiboye said. “They feel like they have something to prove and they are going to come to this stadium and play it all out.”

It all seems eerily similar to the past, but there’s one thing USC thinks they can make different.

The outcome.