Vanderbilt Football (6-4, 3-3) couldn’t get it going on offense in Week 11 as it fell to South Carolina (6-4. 4-3) 28-7 on a rainy afternoon in Nashville. The Commodores’ offensive attack sputtered in the first half (83 total yards) and struggled to keep a dominant South Carolina rushing attack — led by Raheim “Rocket” Sanders — in check all day. Sanders accounted for 178 total yards and 3 total touchdowns, and South Carolina’s offense produced over 400 yards.
“That was a three-phase ass-kicking,” said head coach Clark Lea after the game. “I got a locker room of guys that are disappointed and upset, and their head coach is right alongside them.”
To add insult to injury for the Commodores, star quarterback Diego Pavia was forced to leave the contest halfway through the fourth quarter after taking a hit to his lower body on a pass attempt. Vanderbilt hung around for the majority of the game, but its inability to sustain consistent offensive production ultimately proved too steep of a mountain to overcome.
Pavia and the Commodores’ offense started with the ball after South Carolina won the toss and elected to defer. Offensive coordinator Tim Beck went to the ground game early in slightly slippery conditions at FirstBank Stadium. Sedrick Alexander and Pavia moved Vanderbilt up to midfield with chunk rushes on their first two plays from scrimmage. The drive ended there, though, as two short rushes and an incomplete pass — thanks to pressure from the Gamecocks’ stout defensive line — forced a Jesse Mirco punt.
South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers went to work immediately, finding Gage Larvadain in the flat for a first down. Lea’s defensive unit forced a third-and-medium, but Sellers found Nyck Harbor over the middle for a first down. Martel Hight broke up a Sellers attempt to force another third down, but star running back Sanders broke through multiple would-be tacklers to extend the drive.
Sellers and the Gamecocks’ potent run game continued their dominance at the line of scrimmage as they worked the ball inside the 25-yard line, but a pass break-up from Bryan Longwell — and very nearly an interception — forced another third down. Sellers made his way out of the pocket and looked like he had momentum, but Randon Fontenette forced him out of bounds at the right sideline.
FirstBank Stadium exploded as Alex Herrera missed the ensuing 42-yard field goal attempt, keeping the score level at 0-0. Pavia hit Eli Stowers for a first down on the drive’s opening play, but nothing went the Commodores’ way after. Mirco punted again after a pair of Pavia incompletions (risky ones off his back foot, too), seemingly pinning the Gamecocks at their one-yard line before it was overturned and ruled a touchback.
Operating directly in front of the student section, South Carolina opened the drive with a false start penalty. Sellers briefly evaded a sack on first down before Miles Capers jumped on him and forced a fumble that Langston Patterson recovered, setting Vanderbilt up inside the red zone. Two plays later, Kyle Kennard glided past Gunnar Hansen and stripped Pavia, forcing and falling on his own fumble to give South Carolina the ball right back.
Sanders took control of this drive, ripping out a pair of chunk runs to bring his offense into Black and Gold territory, but the former Arkansas Razorback was tackled just short on his final run of the first quarter, bringing around a third-and-one to open the game’s second frame. The Commodores’ defensive efforts were for naught, though, as Sellers converted with ease. Harbor found space along the right side of the field on the next play, catching and running to the tune of a 23-yard gain. Sellers caught Vanderbilt’s secondary on its heels on the next play, delivering a strike to Simon for a touchdown. The score capped off a 12-play, 81-yard touchdown drive and gave the Gamecocks the first points as they led 7-0.
The Commodores — whose defense had already been on the field for nearly 12 minutes — got the ball back in need of an extended offensive drive. A connection from Pavia to Stwoers moved the chains early in the drive, but that was all Vanderbilt could manage. Mirco sent the Gamecocks back to their 9-yard line after another booming punt, and Lea’s defense trotted out looking to flip the game’s momentum.
Oscar Adaway III kept things moving in favor of South Carolina thanks to an 11-yard rush on the drive’s first play. Vanderbilt forced a third-and-short, but Sellers once again used his speed and size to fight for a first down. Hight forced Sellers out of bounds on a rush attempt that went for a four-yard loss before an incompletion, and a short rush forced South Carolina to punt.
Vanderbilt was still scoreless with just five minutes left in the half as it took over from its 12-yard line in need of points. South Carolina’s defensive front continued its control of the line of scrimmage, keeping Alexander and Pavia penned in on first and second down. Vanderbilt’s star quarterback finally made his mark on the game on third-and-long, though, finding Quincy Skinner Jr. on a comeback route to move the chains right before the two-minute timeout.
Pavia came out fast after the break, rushing up the middle for a first down before a Richie Hoskins drop and a Pavia run for no gain forced the Commodores into third-and-long. When all seemed lost, the star signal-caller broke out of multiple potential tackles and scampered for a first down before producing a jaw-dropping hurdle to cap the play off. However, Vanderbilt couldn’t move further than that, as Mirco punted for the fourth time in the first half. South Carolina ran the final 13 seconds of the clock off as both teams made their way to their respective locker rooms with the scoreboard showing 7-0.
Beck’s offense was held to just 83 total yards through the game’s opening half en route to its least productive half of the 2024 season. The Commodores converted just three-of-seven third downs and punted four times — compared to six-of-eight and only one punt for the Gamecocks. South Carolina also out-possessed Vanderbilt, holding the ball for 16 minutes and 51 seconds compared to 13:09 for Vanderbilt. Kennard (three quarterback hurries) was all over Pavia in the backfield as the quarterback completed just 5 passes for 37 yards.
Brock Taylor, seeing his first action of the game, started the second half with a touchback as Sellers took back over. Offensive tackle Cason Henry was flagged for a hold on Capers, pushing the Gamecocks back to their 10-yard line. Sellers escaped what seemed to be a certain sack by Khordae Sydnor and found Jared Brown for a 51-yard gain along the left sideline. Two plays later, Sanders found a seam up the middle of Vanderbilt’s defensive line, broke a tackle and sprinted in for a 33-yard score to double the Gamecocks’ advantage. Three plays into the second half, Vanderbilt trailed 14-0.
Vanderbilt needed to respond, and it did.
Pavia got off to a strong start as he connected with Skinner Jr. for a 12-yard gain on the drive’s opening play before back-to-back connections with Junior Sherrill of nine and six yards pushed Vanderbilt across the 50-yard line. The pass success opened up the ground attack for Pavia, who sprinted up the middle for a 16-yard gain to bring the Commodores to the edge of the red zone. On third down, the quarterback pump faked and found Sherill for his third catch of the drive and moved the chains. A pair of unsuccessful plays left Pavia facing another third-and-long, but the quarterback — as he’s done all season — made some magic happen.
Pavia worked his way out of (what seemed to be) a sack and scampered 17 yards upfield into the end zone to get Vanderbilt on the board, bringing the deficit to just one score.
Sanders continued his dominance at the first and second levels of Vanderbilt’s defense, propelling his team over the 50-yard line with a pair of medium rushes. Then, he exploded, gashing Vanderbilt’s defensive linemen, linebackers and secondary for a 39-yard gain to put the Gamecocks inside the five-yard line. Sanders walked into the end zone two plays later for his second score of the game. Just when it seemed like Vanderbilt had grabbed ahold of the game’s momentum, South Carolina ripped it right back.
Vanderbilt couldn’t capitalize on a spellbinding 33-yard connection from Pavia to Alexander to start its next drive. The Commodores were forced to go for a fourth-down conversion down two scores, but Pavia’s pass attempt to Stowers was nearly intercepted and fell harmlessly incomplete. South Carolina could not capitalize on the excellent field position, though, as it went three-and-out and was forced to punt.
Hight muffed the ensuing return, but the Black and Gold caught a huge break as the ball rolled out of bounds before any Gamecocks could jump on it. Vanderbilt was forced to start the drive from its own one-yard line, but Hoskins took a screen pass for 12 yards to give his offense some breathing room. Pavia found Loic Fouonji for a 17-yard pass before Pavia and Alexander teamed up to earn another first down with their legs. Offsetting penalties gave Vanderbilt a first down — albeit no yardage gained — as Pavia connected with Stowers for a first down. A sack put the Commodores into a tough position, but the Commodores worked their way into a fourth-and-short with a chance to move the chains once again.
Martin Scott broke through the trenches and batted Pavia’s pass attempt to force a turnover on downs, putting South Carolina squarely in the driver’s seat up 14 points with less than 10 minutes to play. The Gamecocks officially shut the door with a 43-yard screen pass to Sanders that resulted in seven points as the scoreboard flashed 28-7.
Pavia took a big hit on Vanderbilt’s next drive and was slow to get up from it, eventually limping off the field. Sophomore quarterback Nate Johnson closed the game out for the Commodores.
When all was said and done, South Carolina’s potent rushing attack — propelled by Sanders’ 126 yards and 2 touchdowns — was too much for the Commodores to overcome. Head coach Shane Beamer’s squad accounted for 441 yards of offense (compared to Vanderbilt’s 274) as it never once trailed during the contest, and the clock hit triple zero with the scoreboard showing 28-7.
“Defensively, I felt like we battled, and that’s a physical rushing team,” Lea said postgame. “It felt like we withdrew a little bit from the game [in the second half], and that’s frustrating for me.”
Vanderbilt will get some time to lick its wounds during its Week 12 bye as it prepares to face LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Saturday, Nov. 23.
