From “Sandman” to the “Sandstorm”: Vanderbilt Looks Forward to Another Tough Environment

Vanderbilt football got a resume-building road win over Virginia Tech last week. As the Commodores travel to another hostile environment, it hopes to get another big win.

Nov 9, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea (right) congratulates South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer after a game at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

When Vanderbilt went into one of the tougher environments in college football at Virginia Tech last week and came out with a 44-20 win over the Hokies, the Commodores made a statement to college football fans and teams. Vanderbilt showed that it was not afraid of the hostile environment and rather enjoys playing spoiler.

This week, Vanderbilt wants to do that again. The Commodores are walking into the Sandstorm of Williams-Brice Stadium against No. 11 South Carolina. 

Last week, they got off to a slow start and the crowd of Virginia Tech had an effect on the Commodores’ first half performance. In the second half, Vanderbilt quickly took the crowd out of the game with two touchdown drives that changed the complexion of the game.

It knows a slow start this weekend will not be ideal in trying to pull an upset. First half penalties would only be more costly for the Commodores this weekend against a team that is looking to play into January this season. But they are hoping that last week’s trip to Blacksburg will help this weekend in Columbia.

“Virginia Tech was a great experience for us. It challenged us in the right ways and I felt like we handled that well, too. In fact, we fed the environment early, so we made it harder on ourselves,” Lea said. “South Carolina is as charged of an environment as we have in our league. Playing there at night, it feels like a party. If we play well, we can help water some of it down.”

In four seasons and two games this season under head coach Shane Beamer, South Carolina is 22-8 at home. Vanderbilt has not won in Williams-Brice Stadium since 2007. But Vanderbilt embraces the challenge a road test like this weekend presents.

“What I told the team is that the environment is for us. That’s what you want as a player. This is exactly what we want. We can enjoy it and not be stressed out about it. As long as we’re able to operate, we don’t let the people get involved in the game,”

While Vanderbilt has been practicing with noise, ultimately the focus is about execution. It knows that if it plays its game and executes the gameplan, the crowd will slowly be taken out of the game. 

The Commodores are looking to end not just their losing streak at Williams-Brice Stadium, but also their losing streak against South Carolina. They have lost 16 consecutive games against the Gamecocks. Of those 16 games, 11 of them were losses by multiple scores. The last time Vanderbilt came within one score of the Gamecocks was a 21-20 loss in 2021. South Carolina leads the all-time series 30-4. 

But Vanderbilt is not worried about the streak. Of course it wants the streak to end, but the focus is on itself first and foremost. After all, many of the players on the roster were not on the team just a couple of years ago. The Commodores are just focused on themselves and the rest will take care of itself.

“It would mean a lot, but we’re not focused on that. All we know is that we’re going to play our football and we know that we can beat them,” Vanderbilt offensive lineman Bryce Henderson said.