With the Vols on a bye week this week the Commodores looked to keep their perfect record alive against the twelfth ranked Gamecocks.
The Commodores took the lead after an early field goal. However, those were the only points the Dores would get. Vandy still looked to be in the game until South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore took a screen pass for 51 yards right before halftime to put the Gamecocks up 14-3.
Vandy struggled to put together anything on offense. Unfortunately for the Dores, they racked up more penalty yards than total yards for the game. Quarterback Larry Smith only threw for 44 yards and leading rusher Zac Stacy had just 18 yards on seven carries.
Lattimore would put the game away with a 22 yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
The bright spot in the game was the Commodores defense. Vandy picked off South Carolina gamecocks QB Stephen Garcia four times and held Lattimore to less than 100 yards for the first time all season.
Vandy coach James Franklin had this to say about the defense, “I thought our defense played extremely well. I think they played good enough to win. They held Lattimore to 85 yards on 20 carries, they picked off Garcia four times.”
The Commodores schedule doesn’t get any easier. Next week they take on third ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa and the Vols take on the University of Buffalo at Neyland Stadium.
In the conference alignment news, the SEC announced Texas A&M as the conferences thirteenth member on Sunday. Here is a better look at Texas A&M.