Thumbs up, thumbs down: South Carolina vs. Vanderbilt

Thumbs Up

Jake Bentley to Shi Smith

By halftime, South Carolina’s quarterback (Bentley) had found the young receiver for a pair of massive gains. They tormented Vanderbilt slot corners to the tune of 119 yards on five catches.

A.J. Turner’s return

Rico Dowdle did the most damage with 112 yards on 20 carries, but the game was a nice return for A.J. Turner. He was a top runner the past two seasons but had a quiet start this year. He finished with 64 yards on nine carries that included sprints of 19 and 15 yards.

Javon Kinlaw, the terror

South Carolina’s top defensive tackle didn’t finish the game after a toe injury put a scare in him. Even in an abbreviated game, he had two strip-sacks, another tackle for loss, a pass breakup and five total tackles.

The up-tempo attack

USC’s high-paced attack seemed to be working on all cylinders. The Gamecocks ran nearly 80 plays. They broke out 534 yards. They went quick on the opening drives of both halves and did their damage.

Thumbs Down

That tackling

South Carolina gave up five runs of 10 yards or longer, and four passes of at least 15 yards. A lot of that came from issues with tackling, something USC still needs to clean up.

Closing the deal

The Gamecocks built an early lead and let the Commodores keep it close for a while. There were a few chances squandered before finally closing the door.

Fumbles

USC looked to be in position to close things down in a big way. Then Dowdle fumbled in the red zone, and Turner lost it late in a big run. The rain factored in.

Just staying healthy

For stretches, South Carolina lost Kinlaw, Dowdle, Bryan Edwards and didn’t have Rashad Fenton for most of the game. USC has some pieces, but it’s not in position to take a ton of attrition.

This story was originally published September 22, 2018 at 9:10 PM.