NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In a all-too-familiar story, Vanderbilt was its own worst enemy once again on a Saturday night.
The Commodores lost 38-27 to visiting South Carolina in a game in which they left way too many plays out on the field and once again let opportunity slip through their fingers.
“Disappointed in the game. Disappointed in the result,” Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea said. “We knew that we weren’t going to be able to find the success we wanted turning the ball over. Obviously that became an issue. The game for us comes down to turnovers and tackling.”
South Carolina (6-3, 3-3 SEC) certainly played well enough to win at FirstBank Stadium. The Gamecocks totaled 492 yards of offense, went 3-for-3 in the red zone and played turnover-free ball until the final moments when a lost fumble was inconsequential.
Yet, at times, Vanderbilt beat Vanderbilt on just as many snaps as its visitors did.
There were dropped passes and penalties and missed tackles and blown coverages, turnovers and touchdowns surrendered. Vandy’s defense, which had pitched a second-half shutout and scored a touchdown Oct. 22 at Missouri, only got four stops on 10 South Carolina drives.
Offensively, Vanderbilt did a fine job rushing the ball to the tune of 226 yards on 41 attempts. But two turnovers and a missed field goal and a failed fourth-down conversion led to too large a hole for Lea’s unit.
“There’s a higher performance for this team out there and we got to go and search for it. And we will,” Lea said. “This is a resilient bunch of guys that care about each other. It’s been. Tough stretch here, but we’re going to stay out it and we’ll keep in search of that Vanderbilt football performance for four quarters.”
A wild and wacky first quarter saw South Carolina ahead 17-7 after 15 minutes. The Gamecocks scored on a 29-yard pass from Spencer Rattler and a 68-yard pass from Dakereon Joyner to Antwane Wells.
Those scores were sandwiched around Quincy Skinner’s 66-yard touchdown reception for the Commodores, but Vandy also turned the ball over twice and missed a field goal early.
The action didn’t slow down much to start the second quarter as each team found in the end zone within the first six minutes of the period. Skinner caught his second touchdown reception, this one from eight yards out, and then Christian Beal-Smith scored on a 52-yard run after seemingly being stopped at the line of scrimmage on 3rd-and-1.
Action somewhat settled…