NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Seventeen third-quarter points helped visiting South Carolina pull away from Vanderbilt on Saturday in Vanderbilt Stadium during a 41-7 win for the Gamecocks.
The Commodores (0-3, 0-3 SEC) had cut the score to 17-7 six minutes into the third quarter, but South Carolina answered with a touchdown of their own immediately after that and never looked back.
Vandy got 72 yards rushing from Keyon-Henry-Brooks in his 2020 debut. Cornerback Jaylen Mahoney made 10 tackles and linebacker Dimitri Moore recorded nine stops.
The Commodores next travel to Missouri for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday.
FINAL
South Carolina 41
Vanderbilt 7Commodores (0-3, 0-3 SEC) head to Missouri at 6:30 p.m. Saturday pic.twitter.com/X7VYmUs0bQ
— Chad Bishop (@MrChadBishop) October 10, 2020
South Carolina got on the board first thanks to a 42-yard field goal from Parker White that made it 3-0 with 5:19 left in the opening period.
Vandy had a chance to answer with an 11-play drive that covered 64 yards – but it ended with a Pierson’s Cooke’s 29-yard field goal attempt that sailed wide.
The Commodores were in position once more midway through the second quarter when faced with a 4th-and-2 at the South Carolina 3. But quarterback Ken Seals was sacked on a rollout back to the 4 and Vandy was forced to turn the ball over on downs.
South Carolina (1-2, 1-2 SEC) turned that momentum into a 96-yard drive that chewed up more than six minutes of clock and ended with Collin Hill diving in from a yard out on 4th-and-goal. That gave the Gamecocks a 10-0 lead – a lead they would take into halftime.
The Gamecocks held the ball for more than 18 minutes in the first half. Vandy, meanwhile, was 0-for-4 on third down, 0-for-1 on fourth down and 0-for-2 in the red zone
Vanderbilt started the second half with a fake punt on fourth down from its own 31 and couldn’t pick up the first down. South Carolina needed just two plays to score from there and went up 17-0 on a 25-yard touchdown run by Kevin Harris.
But the Commodores didn’t fold.
Seals led Vandy on a nine-play drive that covered 75 yards that ended with a quick pass out in the left flat to Cam Johnson who raced in from 22 yards out, diving into the end zone cutting the score to 17-7.
South Carolina answered immediately. A nine-play drive of the Gamecocks’ own was polished off by Hill’s 10-yard scramble on 3rd-and-goal that made it a 17-point margin once again.
White added a 40-yard field before the end of the period making it 27-7 going into the fourth quarter.
Davis added an 88-yard touchdown run at the start of the fourth quarter making it 34-7. Minutes later, Dakereon Joyner took a reverse 47 yards for six pushing the score to 41-7.
Vandy Battles Gamecocks by Vanderbilt Athletics on Exposure
• Vanderbilt running back Ja’Veon Marlow, defensive back Donovan Kaufman and safeties Dashaun Jerkins and Randall Haynie were among the Vanderbilt inactive student-athletes Saturday.
• Mahoney’s 10 tackles were a career-high.
• Vanderbilt tight end Ben Bresnahan made a career-high five receptions.
• The Commodores’ seven tackles for loss set a season-high.
• South Carolina now leads the all-time series 30-4 and has won 12 in a row.
• The Commodores last beat South Carolina on Sept. 4, 2008.
