NASHVILLE, Tenn.—South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler threw for 186 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, as the Gamecocks beat Vanderbilt, 38-27, at FirstBank Stadium on Saturday night.

Vanderbilt's Ray Davis ran 20 times for 167 yards in defeat.

South Carolina averaged 8.2 yards a play and didn't commit a turnover in the first half, while the Commdores had two. Those were the two biggest reasons the Gamecocks managed a 17-point halftime lead.

Vanderbilt punched back to start the second half. After South Carolina punt to open the second half, Vanderbilt ran the ball on 10 of 11 plays on the next drive, marching 81 yards and capping the drive with Patrick Smith's 1-yard scoring run.

But Carolina answered, converting a 16-yard pass to 295-pound defensive lineman Tonka Hemingway on a fake field goal to keep a drive alive before Rattler found Antwane Wells Jr. for a 17-yard touchdown pass with 51 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Vanderbilt's Mike Wright hit Davis for a 5-yards score with 6:06 remaining; the 2-point conversion failed and the Carolina lead was 11. The Commodores had a chance late to get within a score but tight end Ben Bresnahan's fumble proved costly.

South Carolina scored first and never trailed.

The Gamecocks’ Darius Rush picked Vandy's AJ Swann at the Carolina 30 on the game’s first drive. Rattler found Xavier Legette behind Jeremy Lucien for a 29-yard South Carolina touchdown with 11:23 left in the first quarter.

But on second-and-15, Swann found Quincy Skinner open along the left sideline and made a perfect throw for a 66-yard touchdown to answer and tie after Joseph Bulovas’s point-after.

Two snaps later, Wells Jr. threw a ball to Dakereon Joyner, who did most of the work on a 68-yard touchdown catch and throw.

Swann’s fumble with 1:33 left in the first quarter game the Gamecocks the ball at Vandy’s 17, which Carolina converted into Mitch Jeter’s 31-yard field goal.

Skinner caught his second touchdown of the half with 11:08 left before half. But Carolina answered when Christian Beal-Smith popped a run with inside design outside and ran 52 yards untouched for another score.

With 1:22 left in the half, Rattler rolled right and found an open Josh Vann, the point-after making it 31-14 at the break.

- The script was there for Vanderbilt to beat South Carolina, except it was the Gamecocks that followed it rather than Vandy. The Gamecocks were minus-8 in turnover and Vanderbilt, plus-4, but it was the Commodores who turned it over three times to Carolina's one. That one came on a bad snap on a fourth-and-6 with about two minutes to play. The Commodores failed to get much pressure on Rattler, who's been a turnover machine, and the Oklahoma transfer never really came close to turning it over as a result.

- The awful defensive play returned. This, and the first point, were really the stories of the evening. Vandy couldn't get a pass rush, couldn't cover, left wide-open swaths of the field and couldn't tackle for much of the night.

Legette got behind Lucien on Carolina’s first drive, then, Joyner, who caught the ball almost on the sideline, somehow eluded three Commodore defenders who were there with a shot to tackle him for a score. Vandy couldn't get a rush with Rattler, who threw a ball that Vann leapt to catch for the last score of the half.

- Discipline was lacking. Vanderbilt's Will Sheppard drew a first-half personal foul and the teams nearly had two brawls in the first half.

That said, Carolina had bigger issues here, getting flagged 12 times for 115 yards to Vandy's five for 36. But the Commodores' margin for error is slim and the 'Dores have to be better than that.

- Swann left the game late in the second quarter with what looked like a concussion. Swann, who left the Missouri game with a concussion, may have gotten another one tonight. The back of Swann's head hit the turf hard as a Carolina defender nailed him at the end of a pass play; the freshman departed and never returned.

- The combo of Davis and run-blocking was terrific tonight. Davis isn't the fastest guy but found space, often around the edges, and made good decisions. You'll take 8.4 yards per carry any night.

- The starting offensive line was, from left to right: Junior Uzebu, Gunnar Hansen, Julian Hernandez, Bradley Ashmore and Jacob Brammer. Hansen has been Vandy’s left tackle most of the season.

- Quincy Skinner showed he can play. Sometimes you file away what you see in fall camp and wait for it to show up later. What Skinner flashed in August showed up tonight; he got between a pair of defenders for his first score and then won a footrace to the end zone. Later, he caught a ball from Swann around the 4 in the midst of three defenders, spun around while in a tackler’s grasp and wiggled his way for another score.

- Freshman Nick Rinaldi, a walk-on who just started playing football last year in high school, was seeing significant time at defensive end tonight. Here is Rinaldi's story. The short version: a year ago he was a 210-pound linebacker/running back. Rinaldi ran a 10.9 in the 100 meters and flashed some speed on the outside that Vandy needs, but seeing him in that spot speaks volumes about the talent deficit between Vandy and the rest of the league.

- Freshman inexperience showed up in spots tonight. The pick was a poorly-thrown ball into coverage, and on the drive after the touchdown, Swann threw a fastball 100 yards down the middle and behind a wide-open Skinner on a third-and-6 play that should have been an easy first down and maybe a lot more. On the next drive, McGowan dropped what would have been a third-down conversion and the Commodores missed a field goal on the next play. McGowan also had a fumble on a kickoff, but the Commodores recovered that one.

- That's 26 league losses in a row. Following the game thread, you can certainly sense the demoralization within the fan base, and it also showed up in a lackluster crowd. How Vanderbilt fixes that, I don't know; had message boards and the Internet been around 50 years ago, I'm sure the discussions would have been similar to what they are now.