South Carolina @ Vanderbilt: Game Preview

Article courtesy of SEC Sports Hub.

Overview 

Both South Carolina and Vanderbilt were fairly impressive in their season openers, each notching comfortable victories. South Carolina has named a new starting quarterback for the contest against Vanderbilt, whose offensive line played well above expectations in the season opener. 

The Gamecocks got off to an extremely slow start against NC State last week, and it will be extremely important that they get things going offensively earlier in the game against Vanderbilt. 

Quarterback Chris Smelley will take over at quarterback and running back Mike Davis looked great last week. The main question for South Carolina remains the offensive line, which had a disappointing outing last week. 

Vanderbilt surprised a lot of people by winning so comfortably on the road at Miami (OH) and most impressive was the play of the offensive line, a unit that started five new faces. 

Now the Commodores will have their work cut out for them on offense, where they will face one of the toughest defenses they will play this year. Quarterback Chris Nickson’s mobility should help Vanderbilt significantly, as Nickson rushed for over 160 yards last week against Miami. 

The Gamecocks were very impressive on defense last week, shutting out NC State. The play was great all around and the run defense looked vastly improved from a year ago. The defensive line should give Vanderbilt some trouble and South Carolina should be able to force Nickson into making a few mistakes. 

Vanderbilt will have a tough task in front of them against the South Carolina offense. Smelley looked great in limited time last week and if he plays at the same level, the Commodores will be in trouble. 

Vanderbilt needs to take advantage of South Carolina’s questions up front and hound Smelley all night long. If they do, their very good secondary could come up with a few key plays and give Vanderbilt some momentum. 

Still, despite the fact that both teams looked good in the opener, South Carolina just has much better all around talent. Vanderbilt has some playmakers, including D.J. Moore, that could turn the game around, especially if the Gamecocks start off slowly. 

This is South Carolina’s game to lose, though, and Spurrier should have his team much better prepared this week. 

X – Factor 

South Carolina tight end Jared Cook – Cook will present the Commodores with a huge mismatch problem in the secondary and Smelley and the Gamecocks will try to take advantage of it early and often. Smelley and Cook hooked up on a beautiful touchdown pass last week and should once again make it tough for the opposing defense. 

The Pick 

This one should be a close, physical battle, as we’ve come to expect from these SEC matchups. Athletically, South Carolina is superior, but if they struggle early Vanderbilt could pose some problems. South Carolina defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson will be sure to limit D.J. Moore’s productivity on offense and attempt to contain scrambling quarterback Chris Nickson. 

South Carolina 27 – 13 Vanderbilt

To see other previews for SEC teams in Week 2, visit SEC Sports Hub or go to the Team Pages.