A fast start by South Carolina trumped a fast finish by Vanderbilt.
After leading 28-0, South Carolina fed a Commodores rally with three turnovers that led to touchdowns, but the Gamecocks finally put an end to the potential upset and held on for a 35-25 victory Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium.
“Statistically, they didn’t make 300 yards, but it felt like we couldn’t get them off the field,” South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said. “We almost found a way to lose it.”
South Carolina’s defense, shredded for 536 yards in last week’s loss to Georgia, turned in a better performance, but was victimized by turnovers that produced short fields for the Commodores.
“I thought we played better,” South Carolina defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward said. “We made a few changes, simplified a few things, but obviously we’ve still got some things to work on.”
On a night when standout defensive end Jadeveon Clowney had another quiet game — one sack that produced a fumble — it was a defensive back who made the play of the game for South Carolina.
With Vanderbilt trailing 35-25 and facing third-and-goal from the 5-yard line, South Carolina’s Jimmy Legree intercepted a pass that gave the Gamecocks possession at the 1-yard line with 8:41 to play.
South Carolina controlled all but the final 55 seconds, finally turning the ball over on downs on the Vanderbilt 35 with the Commodores out of timeouts.
“Sometimes … you lose games like that,” Spurrier said.
The Gamecocks’ best defense was their offense. South Carolina ran 87 plays for 579 yards.
The Gamecocks (2-1, 1-1 SEC) scored touchdowns on their first four possessions of the game and led 28-0, although Vandy (1-2, 0-2) cut the lead to 28-10 at the half.
Quarterback Connor Shaw threw touchdown passes of 12 yards to Nick Jones and 26 yards to Bruce Ellington. Mike Davis scored on a 4-yard run, and backup quarterback Dylan Thompson scored on a 4-yard run.
A 69-yard interception return by Steven Clark set up a Jerron Seymour’s 1-yard touchdown run for the Commodores. Vandy scored on a 54-yard field goal by Carey Spear on the last play of the half.
“It was a good win for the Gamecocks,” Spurrier said. “It looked like we were dominating. We scored the first four possessions, and then stuff started happening.
“Good play by Jimmy Legree to make a pick running in front of a guy on the slant. Obviously, we had some careless plays, especially on special teams.”
Spurrier said he was pleased with Shaw’s performance. Shaw completed 21 of 29 passes for 284 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed for a team-leading 84 yards on 19 carries.
“Overall, it was a good game,” Spurrier said. “Connor played very well. We’re happy to get out of here and get another win at home. I thought he had a heck of a game. He’s really a good passer. We gave him a game ball.
“It was a game I was thinking this might be the best we’ve ever looked on offense, then it started slowing down on offense. We’ll, try to learn from it and see what kind of team we’re going to be this year.”
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