The South Carolina Gamecocks (2-1, 1-1 SEC) head to Nashville this weekend to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores (1-2, 0-1 SEC). After a huge three point victory against the Georgia Bulldogs, the Gamecocks feel very confident going into this weekend's game against a Vanderbilt team that had two blowout losses to Temple and Ole Miss.
Vanderbilt has had a tough time getting things going with first year coach Derek Mason who managed to get his first win of the year over Massachsetts. With just over a minute left in the fourth quarter, Vandy running back Ralph Webb ran it in the end zone on a 4 yard run to seal the 34-31 win.
South Carolina leads the all time series at 19-4, with Vanderbilt losing the last four match-ups, but that does not mean the 'Dores are just going to give it to them.
"Vanderbilt plays tough. We've been watching them on tape and their players play smart, play tough, aggressive." South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier said at their weekly press conference. "We're looking forward to this game to see if our team can continue to improve as we go through the season and we've still got a lot of room for improvement. Hopefully that will happen when we go to Nashville this week," Spurrier added.
Spurrier also said that with the Gamecocks going on the road for the first time, the team will need to be ready on defense and bring some emotion and passion. The last trip the Gamecocks took to Nashville, they barely squeaked by with a 17-13 win. Even last year's game in Columbia was a close one with only a 35-25 victory.
Both of these teams have a lot to prove, whether it's recovering from two blow out losses, or making sure a huge win wasn't a fluke, either way it should be a grueling match.
South Carolina will battle against SEC East rival Vanderbilt at 7:30 p.m. EST on Saturday, Sept. 20. The game will be televised by the SEC Network.