NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Shane Beamer wondered how his South Carolina Gamecocks would handle playing a ranked Southeastern Conference opponent on the road after upsetting then-No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at home last week.
He didn’t need to worry.
Raheim Sanders ran for 126 yards and two touchdowns and scored a 43-yard TD catch as South Carolina thumped No. 24 Vanderbilt 28-7 Saturday for the Gamecocks’ second straight win over a Top 25 team.
South Carolina (6-3, 4-3 SEC) is bowl eligible with the win, and Beamer said he was really proud of his team.
“This ain’t an easy place to play for a lot of reasons,” Beamer said.
“Everyone thought there’d be a letdown coming off last week and for our guys to come in here and know it’s going to be a tough gritty hard game just because of the way Vanderbilt plays football is really satisfying for us as a football team.”
The Commodores (6-4, 3-3) now have lost 16 straight to their former SEC Eastern Division rival. Worse, this was their biggest loss this season after losing their first three games by a combined 10 points — two of those to teams ranked inside the Top 10.
Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea called the loss a “three-phase (expletive) kicking” by a more physical team.
“Obviously I’m frustrated … coming up short in the game, frustrated also with the feeling that we didn’t represent ourselves the way that we wanted to … and playing to an identity,” Lea said. “And that’s probably the part of it that hurts the most for me.”
LaNorris Sellers helped South Carolina control possession against a Vanderbilt offense leads the SEC in time of possession. Sellers threw for 238 yards and two TDs. He gave the Gamecocks a 7-0 halftime with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Simon.
South Carolina went up 14-0 to start the third after Sellers escaped a would-be sack and found Jared Brown for a 51-yard completion. Sanders ran 33 yards for the TD and the double-digit lead.
Diego Pavia, the AP’s top first-year transfer in the SEC halfway through the season, tried to rally Vanderbilt after a 17-yard TD run in the third to pull within 14-7.
Sanders’ 1-yard TD late in the third and 43-yard TD catch with 7:55 left put the game on ice.
Pavia threw for 166 yards and added 65 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He was hurt with about 6:40 left on a 28-yard completion wiped out by offensive pass interference.
Lea said Pavia still was being evaluated after the game and he would have an update in the coming days.
Poll implications
This will end Vanderbilt’s second week inside the Top 25, but South Carolina made its case to move into the rankings. Beamer said voters don’t think the Gamecocks are worth being ranked.
“Keep crapping on us,” Beamer said. “That’s the way we like it as well. Don’t rank us this week. We’re good where we are.”
The takeaways
South Carolina: The Gamecocks won their third SEC road game for the first time since 2011, adding to wins at Kentucky and Oklahoma.
Vanderbilt: Pavia’s ability to slip and slide past defenders has been a key to the Commodores’ success this season, but the Gamecocks kept him contained for most of the game.
No live mascot in Nashville
Beamer gave a shoutout to the Gamecocks’ mascot Sir Big Spur in his postgame conference, as he called on Vanderbilt, the only school that doesn’t allow live mascots inside its stadium, to do better. FirstBank Stadium currently is under a major renovation.
“That’s what makes this league special is the fact that LSU can have a frickin’ tiger at their stadium tonight, but we can’t bring Sir Big Spur,” Beamer said.
Up next
South Carolina hosts Missouri on Saturday, while Vanderbilt visits No. 14 LSU on Nov. 23
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