Vanderbilt Football Opens as Underdogs Against South Carolina

Vanderbilt football and Clark Lea have a tough matchup ahead on Saturday as they travel to South Carolina

Nov 9, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia (2) stands in the pocket against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the second half at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Nashville—Vanderbilt football opens as 6.5-point underdogs against South Carolina, per The Action Network.

The Commodores travel to Columbia next weekend after a 44-20 win against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg that moved their record to 2-0 on the season. The Commodores trailed 20-10 at halftime, but outscored Virginia Tech 34-0 in the second half, didn’t allow a rushing yard and didn’t punt at any point throughout the game. 

South Carolina faced off against Virginia Tech in week one and took down the Hokies 24-11 in Atlanta. Virginia Tech never reached the end zone in that game. The Gamecocks are also 2-0 on the season after a 38-10 win over South Carolina State. 

SC State led the Gamecocks 3-0 after the first quarter, but South Carolina scored 17 unanswered points in the second quarter and ran away with the game. 

"I would say we were clicking a little bit better,” South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers said. “I'm not sure if it's the competition or just the different looks from seeing our defense to different looks from other teams. But we've just got to communicate better and execute better."

Sellers and South Carolina came to FirstBank Stadium and defeated Vanderbilt 28-7 last season. That was Vanderbilt’s first loss of the season that came by double digits. The Commodores finished the season 7-6 while South Carolina finished 9-4 after a loss in the Cheez-It Bowl. 

South Carolina has been a difficult opponent for Clark Lea’s Vanderbilt program over the years and has beat it every time that the teams have played throughout Lea’s tenure. The Vanderbilt head coach isn’t the only one to struggle with the Gamecocks, though. 

Vanderbilt hasn’t taken down South Carolina since 2008. The Gamecocks are 29-4 in games against Vanderbilt in the overall series. The last time there was a one-score game in the series was 2021 when South Carolina led a long drive in the final moments of the game to steal the game from Vanderbilt.

Perhaps Vanderbilt can turn the series around with a win on Saturday. That would put the Commodores at 3-0 as it heads into home matchups with Georgia State and Utah State. It will have to earn everything in Columbia, though.

“We're gonna have a really tough one again next weekend,” Lea said Saturday night after Vanderbilt’s win over Virginia Tech, “And we need to turn the page tomorrow and get to work on South Carolina.”