Vanderbilt Football: Previewing the South Carolina Gamecocks
The Vanderbilt football team will look to avenge last week’s loss as they have their first SEC matchup of the year when South Carolina heads to town.
South Carolina will head to Nashville on Saturday to take on the 2-1 Vanderbilt Commodores.
South Carolina is coming off of a week without a game. They were scheduled to play Marshall at home last Saturday but that game was canceled due to Hurricane Florence. South Carolina will likely use last week as their bye week and use their other bye week to schedule another matchup to have 12 games on the year.
South Carolina heads into this game with a 1-1 record. They started the year out with a blowout win against Coastal Carolina, as they controlled the whole game coming out with a 49-15 victory. The Gamecocks had a huge matchup the next week when No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs came to town. A lot of hype was built around that game with many people thinking the Gamecocks could pull of the upset, but Georgia was too much for South Carolina as they lost 41-17.
Offense
The Gamecocks have an offense that has put up 446.5 yards a game, but that number is sort of flawed as they put up 557 total yards against Coastal Carolina.
The South Carolina offense has a proven quarterback in Jake Bentley. Bentley has completed 52 passes on 76 attempts which is good for a 68.4 completion percentage.
He has also thrown for 516 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions. Four of his touchdown passes came in their season opener against Coastal Carolina.
The Gamecocks have gone with a two running back system so far. Rico Dowdle leads the team in rushing attempts and yards. Dowdle has run the ball 22 times for 123 yards and one touchdown. Ty’Son Williams has split carries, as he has rushed the ball 17 times for 108 yards and one touchdown.
South Carolina has a few threats at the receiver spot. Bryan Edwards leads the team in reception yards, as he has caught 11 passes for 164 yards and three touchdowns. Deebo Samuel, who can do a little bit of everything, has caught 13 passes for 89 yards and one touchdown. Not only can Samuel beat teams through the air, but he can also make some noise in special teams, so the Vanderbilt defense needs to keep an eye out for him this Saturday.
Defense
The South Carolina defense has been interesting so far. They showed out against Coastal Carolina but struggled heavily against a very good Georgia team. They have allowed 28 points a game while allowing 355.5 yards a game.
T.J. Brunson leads all Gamecock defenders with 11 total tackles. Jaycee Horn, Caleb Kinlaw, and Steven Montac all are second on the team in tackles as they have eight total tackles.
The Gamecock defense has only forced one turnover so far through two games. Rashad Fenton has the lone turnover for the team, as he intercepted a pass.
The South Carolina defense will have a handful as they try and stop the duo of Kyle Shurmur and Kalija Lipscomb.
What to Expect
This has all the makings to be a very good game. Vanderbilt is coming off of a tough loss against a very good Notre Dame team. South Carolina on the other hand, had a few more days to prepare for this matchup on Saturday. Vanderbilt will look to start their SEC schedule out strong, while South Carolina looks to get even after a loss to Georgia.
Both quarterbacks will shine in this game, as there is a great chance this game is a shootout. I think this game will depend on which defense shows out more and forces more turnovers.