Aug. 31, 2012
Recap: South Carolina 17, Vanderbilt 13
All the ingredients were in place and when mixed together inside an electric Vanderbilt Stadium, the recipe seemed like it had all the makings for a Commodore victory. But at the end, Vanderbilt came up just a few plays short as No. 9 South Carolina won 17-13 Thursday.
It’s not the first time Vanderbilt has come out on the losing end by a narrow margin, and it is becoming a tired act for members of the team.
“At some time, we have to find a way to win these tough games,” Vanderbilt Head Coach James Franklin said after the game, his head covered in sweat.
Last year, five of Vanderbilt’s seven losses came by seven points or less. Given Thursday’s four-point defeat, the 2012 season is off to a familiar start.
The build up for the game, however, was unfamiliar. It was opening night of the college football season, ESPN cameras were on location and an SEC matchup with a top-10 opponent loomed. Toss in a slew of national journalists from many of the major media outlets in the country, the Goodyear Blimp, SkyCam, a flyover and a renovated stadium, and it is hard to imagine there ever being a better atmosphere for an opening-season game at Vanderbilt Stadium.
Even though the Commodores came out on the short end of the stick, there is no doubt that the overall product left the nation impressed by how far the program has come in just a short time under Coach Franklin.
The Commodores battled a preseason top-10 team tooth and nail, and kept the national audience engaged throughout. The game wasn’t lost on a single play, but many could point to missed opportunities in the first quarter as Vanderbilt’s downfall.
The team’s first three drives of the game either began or reached South Carolina territory, but the Commodores came up empty-handed each possession. Two of the drives came courtesy of South Carolina turnovers, an interception by Kenny Ladler and a forced fumble and recovery by Karl Butler on USC’s first offensive play of the game. In the end, it would be a Vanderbilt mistake in the red zone that led to South Carolina’s first points of the game.
With Vanderbilt facing a third-and-goal at the five-yard line, quarterback Jordan Rodgers rolled to the right and tried to throw back across the field, but his pass was intercepted by Shaq Wilson and returned to the Vanderbilt 49. Two plays later, it was 7-0 South Carolina. The Gamecocks would add a field goal on its next possession and suddenly it was 10-0.
“We had opportunities early in the game,” Franklin said. “It should have been 10-0 early in the game with momentum, and it could of been a completely different game. We can sit here and make all types of excuses, say whatever you want, but the reality is that we had an opportunity to get a big win here and we didn’t get it done.”
Not surprisingly, Vanderbilt would battle back, tying the game at 10 heading into the locker room. But the team’s best scoring opportunities were mostly behind them. Three times, Vanderbilt would drive into South Carolina’s territory in the second half, but never closer than the 27-yard line.
On the other side, South Carolina turned to its running game to control the clock and limit Vanderbilt’s opportunities.
“A good football team gets the ball with the lead late in the game and they are able to run the ball with a really good back,” Franklin summarized. “They basically went four-minute offense with nine minutes to go in the game and ate the clock up. Even with that, we had a chance to win the game at the end; didn’t get it done.”
That opportunity to win the game came with 5:08 to play. Beginning at their own 20, the Commodores would drive to their 38-yard line before facing a fourth-and-seven, which would ultimately determine the game. Rodgers took the snap and released a deep pass to Jordan Matthews just a tenth of a second before getting creamed by a South Carolina defender. The pass floated into the air and hit off the outstretched arms of Matthews, who was blanketed by D.J. Swearinger, who broke up the pass.
In the end, it was the wasted opportunities early on that pained Franklin the most.
“The reality is, I just think it comes down to: we had opportunities early in the game,” an animated Franklin remarked. “Where we are at as a program, we have to take care of that opportunity. You can’t wait until the fourth quarter and try to win in the fourth quarter. Would you love to have done that? Yeah, there is no doubt, but we shouldn’t have been in the situation in the first place.”
Over time, the close losses can begin to eat away at teams, and that is the case with the players, who are equally fed up with losing tight games.
“We are done losing close games that we could have finished and know we could have finished,” Rodgers said. “We don’t feel anything other than that we beat ourselves and we aren’t going to let that happen again.”
Asked after the game just how close the team is to turning these close losses into wins, safety Javon Marshall, who led the Commodores with 10 tackles, said it wouldn’t be long. “We are very close. It is the little things, it’s the details. We just have to take the next step and we will.”
The improvement from two seasons ago is clear to even a football novice. In the last 14 games dating back to the start of 2011, Vanderbilt has been in it to the end of all but two games.
Because of this Franklin understands that his frustrations with losing must be tempered by the vast improvements being made.
“What I have to do is make sure I keep this in perspective, that we all make sure we keep this in perspective,” Franklin remarked. “Because we have made tremendous strides. Top-10 opponent, down to the last second of the game, we are in it, we just have to keep fighting.”
Vanderbilt did not come out on top, but it is only a matter of time before the team does. And when they do, Thursday provided a setting that is more a regularity than an anomaly.
“It was a great atmosphere and I think it was a really good picture and vision for what Vanderbilt can be,” Franklin said. “As long as everyone pulls together and rallies together as a community, we can build something really special here.”
