Five reasons South Carolina beats Vanderbilt

1. STUCK IN THE WEBB

Ralph Webb has had a lot of yards against a lot of opponents, but he’s never broken 100 in three tries against South Carolina. Vanderbilt will obviously get him the ball, but if the Gamecocks do what they always have, they can take away a large piece of the Commodores’ offense.

2. FIVE HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

This could be a game where the Gamecocks’ depth at running back really pays off. Vandy is loaded in the secondary, so it seems to make sense to hit them up front and keep the ball out of the air. Rico Dowdle, Ty’Son Williams, A.J. Turner … maybe even Mon Denson and Caleb Kinlaw get a touch or two.

3. BETTER LET ME TAKE THAT, KYLE

Kyle Shurmur had two great games at the end of last season but was otherwise not that effective, completing under 55 percent of his throws for the year and tossing 10 interceptions. The Gamecocks will key on the run and if they can stop that, they shouldn’t have much to fear from Shurmur’s arm.

4. WE WANT THE BALL

Vandy was heavily outscored in the first quarter last year and was 2-3 in games where it scored first, one of the losses against the Gamecocks. If USC can get in the end zone first, it forces Vandy’s inconsistent offense into catch-up mode.

5. IT’S STILL VANDY

Vanderbilt broke through last year by getting to a bowl game and is returning a lot of veterans. Yet it’s hard to say the Commodores have definitely turned the corner; there’s always having to go to overtime to beat Western Kentucky or losing to Missouri or sitting down the QB who took a 10-0 lead against USC, only to fall 13-10. The Commodores’ schedule may have them facing bowl elimination already when they come to Columbia.

This story was originally published July 21, 2017 at 3:19 PM.