Not done yet: Gamecocks overcome slow start to top Vandy
Under the lights at Williams-Brice Stadium, it looked for the briefest of moments like South Carolina’s worst fears might be coming true.
Coming off a deflating loss to Tennessee on the road, facing a Vanderbilt team they had beaten 10 times in a row, the Gamecocks looked sloppy, sluggish and out of sorts in the early going, while the Commodores seized an early lead.
Then reality set in — the reality being that USC features superior talent and was the sizable favorite — and Carolina put together a 24-7 win to take care of business and keep its bowl hopes alive.
Things could hardly have gotten off to a worse start for the Gamecocks (4-5, 3-4 SEC) — sophomore cornerback Israel Mukuamu was flagged twice on third downs to help extend Vanderbilt’s first drive, senior defensive end Aaron Sterling was caught offsides as well, and sophomore corner Jaycee Horn seemed to blow a coverage to allow an easy 26-yard touchdown catch.
“They just had good play calls dialed up. I made a mistake on the back end, he hit me with the double move. I’ve seen that route probably 30 times on film. It was third and short, so just playing the sticks, and that was the first time they ran the double move, so it was a good route,” Horn said. “We just settled in and played our ball for the rest of the game.”
Over the final three quarters, Vanderbilt managed just 94 yards of offense and four first downs against the Gamecocks. Starting quarterback Riley Neal, playing in place of Mo Hasan (concussion protocol), left with an injury, and his replacement, third-stringer Deuce Wallace, was 8-of-17 passing for just 30 yards and two interceptions.
On the other side of the ball, junior tight end Nick Muse left the game early with a knee injury, taking away one of freshman quarterback Ryan Hilinski’s main targets. And just before the end of the first quarter, senior running back Mon Denson fumbled at the Vanderbilt 9-yard line.
But with redshirt freshman Dakereon Joyner providing the occasional change of pace under center in place of Hilinski, the offense took advantage of favorable field position to set up a 20-yard touchdown strike from Hilinski to freshman Xavier Legette, tying things up midway through the second quarter.
“Little bro,” senior receiver Bryan Edwards said of Legette, smiling. “I love that dude. He just brings so much enthusiasm and energy to the receiver room, and I’m just happy for him that he got his first touchdown today. It’s gonna be big things coming in his future.”
Edwards had a big game of his own — he tied the school record with 14 catches and went for 139 yards and a touchdown late in the fourth quarter that put the game on ice. Hilinski targeted Edwards 16 times, more than every other player combined, including twice deep in Vanderbilt territory just before halftime to set up a one-yard touchdown run by freshman Kevin Harris to put USC up 14-7.
After the halftime break, the Gamecocks struggled to finish drives on short fields, leading to coach Will Muschamp calling their short-yardage performance “abysmal,” but an interception by sophomore R.J. Roderick set up a short field goal, and Hilinski’s 25-yard touchdown to Edwards sealed the deal. Senior linebacker T.J. Brunson added a late interception to completely snuff out any Vanderbilt offense.
“This past week of practice, guys sat down and really started to understand our fits and the details of the job,” Brunson said. “I think the biggest thing that we focused on was just being consistent, coming back and winning every single down and coming back, and just playing hard for the whole game.”
Even the Gamecock ground game got involved — redshirt freshman running back Deshaun Fenwick ran 18 times for 102 yards, nearly half of USC’s 205-yard total on the night.
“I thought we had good balance, I thought we were outstanding on third down, 9 of 15 on third down, staying on the field right there,” Muschamp said. “ ... You’re able to run for over 200 and throw for over 200, you’re gonna be pleased with your outcome a lot.”
NEXT
Who: South Carolina vs. Appalachian State
When: 7 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 9
Where: Williams-Brice Stadium
TV: ESPN2
This story was originally published November 2, 2019 at 10:48 PM.
