South Carolina-Vanderbilt: Gamecocks Escape With a Win

The University of South Carolina-Vanderbilt game may not have gone as most Carolina fans had dreamed of but the result is a win that had to be gotten with Carolina still to play Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, and Clemson.

USC beat Vandy 14-10.

The win gave USC (6-2, 3-2 in SEC) its seventh consecutive home win and set a school record with its fifth consecutive conference victory at home. The Gamecocks are bowl-eligible for the fifth time in as many seasons under Spurrier. 

Also the win gave Spurrier his 105th in SEC play, tying him with Vince Dooley for No. 3 all-time on the conference list.

The win did not come easy as Vandy played tough, as usual, and had their chance at the end of the game. But thanks to free safety Chris Culliver for forcing Vandy QB Larry Smith to throw the ball away that resulted in a intentional grounding call and a Vandy 4th-and-32 with only minutes to play in the game. 

Needless to say, Vandy did not get a score or first down and the Gamecocks escaped with a 14-10 win.

The win was not the prettiest for Carolina, as they had to rely yet again on a strong defensive stand late in the game to secure the 'W'.  The Gamecocks offense kept shooting itself in the foot most of the night and had to rely on big plays to get the job done offensively.

Looking at the stat sheet, you would never think this game was the nail-bitter it was.

Carolina held Vandy to 273 total yards of offense while getting 431 yards of total offense. Carolina QB Stephen Garcia was 22-of-33 for 312 yards and two TDs, USC WR Alshon Jeffery had eight catches for 161 yards, and USC RB Kenny Miles ran for 102 yards. 

Just that alone would make you feel this game should have been won by three scores. Besides a 21-yard field goal in the third quarter, all that Vandy could muster up was a 99 yard kickoff return by Warren Norman.

At the end of the day, Carolina is happy to get another check in the win column. Carolina must now begin to focus on Tennessee, which will prove even tougher than Vandy and demand better play on both sides of the ball to silence "Rocky Top" in Knoxville.

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