Nashville, TENN – On a rainy, overcast day, South Carolina physically imposed their will on Vanderbilt, resulting in a dominant 28-7 win in Nashville. This was a bad matchup at a bad time in the season for the Commodores. The Gamecocks defensive line was dominant all night, and Rocket Sanders ran wild. Here’s how Clark Lea’s defense graded out after a disappointing night.

What went right:

It wasn’t a great start for Vanderbilt’s defense, but on the first possession, they held South Carolina to a FG attempt, which they missed. Then, late in the 1st quarter, Miles Capers forced a fumble on LaNorris Sellers, which Langston Patterson recovered.

Late in the 3rd quarter, the Commodores came up with a huge stop on 3rd down to force a South Carolina punt. Other than a few sequences, Vandy’s defense simply couldn’t stop the Gamecocks best players.

What went wrong:

The 1st half wasn’t all bad for the defense, despite giving up nearly 200 yards of offense. They bent but didn’t break. CJ Taylor and Langston Patterson both went down with injuries, but ended up returning to the game.

To begin the second half, South Carolina marched down the field on a 3-play, 75-yard drive in 1:38 to take a 14-0 lead. Miles Capers had Sellers down for a sack, but couldn’t corral him, which led to a chunk gain from Jared Brown. Then, Rocket Sanders ran in a 33-yard TD to cap the drive. That was a horrific way to start the second half for Clark Lea’s defense. The tackles were there to be made, but LaNorris Sellers and Rocket Sanders would not go down.

Late in the 3rd quarter, South Carolina responded to Vandy’s touchdown drive with another drive of their own. Rocket Sanders punched it in for a touchdown, giving the Gamecocks a 21-7 lead. The Commodores' defense just couldn’t bring down Sanders, it was as simple as that.

Defensive MVP: Randon Fontenette

It wasn’t his best performance, but he still led the way for Clark Lea’s defense after finishing with

Final grade: C -