Vandy 24 SC 17

In the first SEC game of the weekend Thursday night Vanderbilt came out and made a statement in the second half scoring 21 points in a row to beat S Carolina 24 -17.

South Carolina senior Ryan Succop knocked through a 41-yard field goal, and the teams jogged off the field, at the end of the first half of Vanderbilt’s Thursday night matchup with South Carolina. With the score 10-3 in the Gamecocks’ favor, the crowd sat mum, as Vanderbilt had managed just 50 yards of total offense in the first half.

When the Commodores returned after halftime, it was hard to imagine that they would come out and play, as coach Bobby Johnson called it, “their best football,” and pull out their biggest home win since 1992. Vanderbilt scored three touchdowns in the second half and stifled the Gamecocks to win 24-17.

What defined Thursday’s win for the Commodores, however, was their tenacity down the stretch – a killer instinct they hadn’t exhibited in big games last year. Leading 24-17 with 7:39 remaining, the Commodores never gave the Gamecocks hope. With a strangling defense that allowed just six yards in that time, and a Hawkins fueled in-your-face offense, Vanderbilt never budged.