South Carolina Notches 37-14 Win Over Vandy

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jake Bentley threw for 261 yards and a touchdown, and the South Carolina Gamecocks bounced back from their hurricane-forced break, routing Vanderbilt 37-14 Saturday.

South Carolina (2-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) had its game against Marshall canceled by Hurricane Florence , leaving the Gamecocks looking for a 12th game this season. The Gamecocks hadn’t played since being routed 41-17 by now-No. 2 Georgia on Sept. 8 .

They showed no rust as South Carolina won its 10th straight and 17th in the last 19 years against Vanderbilt.

The Gamecocks scored the game’s first 10 points and then reeled off 20 straight after Vanderbilt got within 17-14 late in the first half. South Carolina could have had a bigger margin of victory but lost two fumbles inside the Vandy 30 in the fourth quarter after a 39-minute lightning and rain delay.

Rico Dowdle ran for a TD and 112 yards, and Mon Denson and Ty’Son Williams each ran for touchdowns. Parker White kicked three field goals for South Carolina.

Vanderbilt (2-2, 0-1) felt pretty confident coming into its SEC opener after coming up just short in a 22-17 loss at No. 8 Notre Dame last week . The Commodores couldn’t match Bentley and the Gamecocks who outgained them 149-32 in the first quarter and finished 534-284 in total offense.

Ke’Shawn Vaughn scored on a 2-yard TD run after an interception. Kyle Shurmur added a 2-yard TD pass for Vanderbilt. The Commodores struggled with snapping the ball and even switched right guard Bruno Reagan over to center late. It didn’t help with a bad snap on third down and Vanderbilt trying to chip away at the Gamecocks’ lead late.

GAME CHANGER

South Carolina led Vanderbilt, 20-14, going into halftime. The Gamecock defense forced Vanderbilt into a punt on the Commodores first possession of the second half, then used a 10-play, 61-yard drive to take a nine-point lead after a 36-yard field goal by Parker White. Carolina added a third-quarter touchdown from Mon Denson and a late touchdown by Ty’Son Williams for the final scores of the contest.

KEY STAT

534 to 284 — The Gamecock offense put up 534 yards of offense, 261 of those in the air from Jake Bentley, and had a 100-yard rusher (Rico Dowdle) and a 100-yard receiver (Shi Smith). Meanwhile, the Gamecock defense held Vandy to 284 yards and a pair of turnovers.

UP NEXT

South Carolina heads to Lexington, Ky., for a conference matchup with Kentucky on Saturday, Sept. 29. The game will start at 7:30 p.m. EDT and will be televised on SEC Network.