Takeaways from Vanderbilt Football's 31-7 Win over South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C.—Vanderbilt football ended its longtime losing streak to South Carolina with a 31-7 win at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday night and ended its night Swag Surfin’ in the visiting locker room.

The Commodores moved to 3-0 on the season with Saturday’s win and appear to have everything ahead of them as they head back to Nashville.

Here’s some in-depth analysis on the Commodores’ win over the Gamecocks.

This has been unthinkable for Vanderbilt football, but not for this team

Vanderbilt has lost 16-consecutive games to this South Carolina team. It hasn’t defeated it since 2008. Clark Lea never has as a member of this program.

Saturday night was different, though. So is this Vanderbilt team.

The Commodores went into Williams-Brice Stadium and took down No. 11 South Carolina by a wide margin. In a game that seemingly every Vanderbilt team would’ve allowed to get away, it was this Vanderbilt team’s night and it wasn’t going to let South Carolina take it from them.

All of Vanderbilt’s aspirations are still out ahead of it

This Vanderbilt team says it wants a national championship and backed it up with Saturday night’s performance.

Who knows what the future holds for this Vanderbilt team, but it’s done nothing to this stage to discourage belief or the idea that it can accomplsih everything that it’s set out to.

Diego Pavia hasn’t gotten enough credit for how good he’s been the last two weeks

Pavia’s line–which includes an 18-for-25 performance, 177 passing yards and two touchdowns–doesn’t stand out all that much, but he performed some of his usual magic throughout it.

The Vanderbilt quarterback did something similar last week against Virginia Tech without a standout statline. That statline hasn’t defined his performances, though.

Pavia has really pushed the ball downfield. He’s stayed in the pocket and delivered. He’s made the right decisions for the mostpart. He’s ran it when the time is right. He’s even done some work as a lead blocker.

Perhaps it’s not surprising at this point, but the Vanderbilt quarterback is doing what he’s always done.

LaNorris Sellers exit made an impact, but don’t let that take away from this

Sellers is among America’s best quarterbacks and obviously would’ve made an impact on this game had he not left in the second quarter due to a hit from Langston Patterson, but he isn’t Superman.

That’s likely who it would’ve taken at quarterback for South Carolina to find a way to win this game. One player doesn’t change a butt whooping like Vanderbilt put on Shane Beamer’s team on Saturday night.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Vanderbilt’s run game was good enough to blow this thing open

If Vanderbilt was going to struggle on Saturday, it was going to be because South Carolina’s defensive line–which was top 15 in run defense–shut down Vanderbilt’s run game and made it one-dimensional.

Vanderbilt didn’t exactly dominate up front offensively, but it ended the night with two touchdowns on the ground and 3.9 yards per carry between each of its running backs. It accumulated 85 yards on four “BIG” plays over the course of the night.

South Carolina’s defensive line appears to be as stout as they come in this league, but Vanderbilt didn’t allow it to derail its plans.

Jamezell Lassiter had perhaps the most impactful play of the night

Lassiter has sat and waited his turn after turning down numerous Division-I scholarships in order to walk-on at Vanderbilt with the idea that he would bet on himself and earn his way on to the field when nobody else thought he could.

Perhaps some familiar with the then 5-foot-8 receiver’s situation thought his bet was made with a sense of false confidence and that it would come back to bite him. The Vanderbilt running back has proven that his bet is worthwhile, though.

Lassiter made the biggest play of his young college career as he took the handoff from Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia and took it 44 yards for a touchdown that would ultimately put Vanderbilt up 21-7.

Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said after the Commodores’ win over Charleston Southern that he hoped to get Lassiter more involved throughout 2025 than he was last season as he only appeared on the travel roster twice, but it didn’t appear as if he believed Lassiter would make this much of an impact.

The Vanderbilt running back is doing it, though. That changed the game for Lea’s team on Saturday.

Vanderbilt’s defense has started games too slow

Vanderbilt has given up a score on the first drive in each of the last two games and has allowed the other team to make it look relatively easy.

Saturday included South Carolina going seven plays for 75 yards and a touchdown to open the game. The Gamecocks were driving again on their second drive of the game before Steve Gregory drew up a play to get defensive lineman Zaylin Wood in coverage, which ultimately resulted in an interception in the red zone.

Vanderbilt has to find a way to open things better as it moves forward.

Zaylin Wood had his moment and momentarily changed the game

South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers dropped back and seemingly fell for the mind trick that Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Steve Gregory played on him as he dropped Wood in coverage.

Wood sat a few yards behind the line of scrimmage and reeled in Sellers’ pass down the seam–which likely would’ve been a touchdown–and simultaneously tucked it and ran for a few yards before being brought down.

The interception was the third of Wood’s college career and changed the outlook of the game in the snap of a finger for this Vanderbilt team. If Wood hadn’t gotten his hands on the ball, South Carolina likely would’ve cashed in for its second-consecutive swift touchdown drive.

Instead, Vanderbilt shut out South Carolina for the rest of the half.

How about Vanderbilt going into this game having a chance?

The step was tangible for this Vanderbilt program heading into Saturday night as the betting line had gotten down to 2.5-points prior to Saturday night’s kickoff.

Vanderbilt being anything other than a double-digit underdog would’ve been stunning the last time it was in Columbia, which ended in an eventual blowout loss. Vanderbilt winning this game not being out of the realm of possibility said something about it.

With the streak that hung over Saturday night’s game and the caliber of team Vanderbilt faced in a sold-out stadium, it would’ve been a foregone conclusion that this thing would’ve ended poorly for Clark Lea’s team.

Not this one, though. This one mattered. This one saw included Vanderbilt–and some outside of its program–believing that it could leave with a win.

Tim Beck appeared to be intentional about getting Eli Stowers touches

Vanderbilt’s second play of the night was a fake jet sweep to Kayleb Barnett that ultimately resulted in a screen pass going Stowers’ way. Beck had yet to debut that play in 2025 and had always handed it to Barnett, but not this time.

Stowers had some open field after Vanderbilt center Jordan White got out and scooted a defender out of the way before the Vanderbilt tight end ultimately going for 20 yards on the play.

Stowers hadn’t been all that involved in Vanderbilt’s down-to-down offense to this point and it appears as if Beck wants to change that. The first play of the night was more symbolic of that than it was productive.

The Vanderbilt tight end finished with three catches for 45 yards and appears to be trending towards having a breakout game. He certainly did his fair share on Saturday.