Streak Broken: Vanderbilt Reflects on Emotional Win Over South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C.--Streaks–and curses–are meant to be broken, although it hasn’t always felt that way for this Vanderbilt program.

This one felt as if it would last forever. There was too much black magic and wackiness that happened in its last 16 games against South Carolina for there to be hope of anything different coming to fruition. It appeared as if that’s just how this series is going to be.

Regardless of whether one team was better than the other, one would always find a way to win. No matter what. That team never appeared to be Vanderbilt, perhaps for good reason.

“I don't think we've been ready to win this game,” Lea said. “Over time scars heal, but you learn from them. It was important for this team to show up a certain way and play a certain style tonight. Independent of any of the old breaks, this group was ready to win a game tonight and they did that.”

Not Saturday, though. This Vanderbilt team defied its past with a 31-7 win over South Carolina that never really appeared to be in doubt.

Think up every Vanderbilt football great in recent memory and think of the thing that they didn’t accomplish in their career. Jordan Matthews can say he’s got a case as the best receiver in Vanderbilt history, yet he hasn’t done what the Vanderbilt team he watched from the sideline did on Saturday night. Oren Burks has won a Super Bowl, but he can’t say that he did this.

Vanderbilt football beat South Carolina on Saturday for former head coach Bobby Johnson and for all the players that have come and gone with three or four or losses to this program. A few of Lea’s current players were in danger of becoming like those that came before them, but that won’t be their reality as a result of what they did on Saturday.

“It’s just surreal,” Vanderbilt EDGE rusher Miles Capers. “I'm just happy we did it. We did it together, too. Shout out to the offense, just putting points on the board. Shout out defense for this, holding the shutout again in the second half. So I'm just proud of this team, once again.”

Sep 13, 2025; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea celebrates with edge Miles Capers (29) and safety Marlen Sewell (7) following their win over the South Carolina Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images | Jeff Blake-Imagn Images

Capers was around for Vanderbilt’s 21-20 loss–which Johnson, a South Carolina resident, was in the stadium for–to Shane Beamer’s team at the beginning of Lea’s tenure, its blowout loss in Columbia in 2023 and its 2024 loss to the Gamecocks in which Lea says it was outplayed by a team with a similar identity to his.

Lea mentioned to Vanderbilt’s players on Tuesday that it had been 17 years since his program’s last win over South Carolina and that it would mean something to him for it to do what his program hasn’t done since Johnson did well after Lea’s playing days.

“This one is about our team,” Lea said. “It's about the belief we have and we're going to celebrate it.”

It takes something significant for a business-like speaker like Lea to acknowledge outside circumstances and trends. This was significant enough for that and for his program to Swag Surf in the locker room postgame.

It was also enough for him to take a moment and reflect on how far this thing has come since he last sat in the same chair and referred to Ken Seals’ ability to assist Vanderbilt in its quest to punt. Now he’s got a different message, a polar opposite one.

“This is more about our team, our confidence, what we believe in,” Lea said. “We know in our league, you got to show up every week. You got to play physical, you got to play together, and we're good enough to win all our games, but we have to play a certain way.”