Nashville, TENN--Some things in sports feel like they never change.

Saturday was an example of that as South Carolina came into FirstBank Stadium and beat up Vanderbilt, which looked like it needed a bye week this week rather than waiting until next week's scheduled one.

Regardless of reason, Saturday shined light on a reoccurring theme around this program. For whatever reason, Vanderbilt has a South Carolina problem.

Vanderbilt entered Saturday with a 15-game losing streak against the Gamecocks that was extended as Shane Beamer's team took Clark Lea's out of its element on its home field and won.

Even in a season when Lea's team has seemed to defy all of it's program's history, it just couldn't find a way against the team in white, garnet and black.

The problem on Saturday was more than the program's historical context, though.

South Carolina was far more physical and effective on the line of scrimmage, it seemed to extend every run by an extra yard or two while it neutralized Vanderbilt's playmakers on the perimeter on the other side of the ball.

Bluntly, South Carolina was just better than Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Some of that could be attributed to a Vanderbilt team that seems to be ready for a bye week and just didn't have it. The rest could be its deficiencies coming back to bite it.

South Carolina gave Vanderbilt a taste of its own medicine on Saturday as the Gamecocks used the Commodores' formula and wore down Lea's defense with chunk play after chunk play on the ground. Vanderbilt's tackling wasn't good enough on Saturday.

Frankly, neither was its offense.

The Commodores generated just 274 total yards while continually getting gashed up front and failing to counteract its lack of a run game with an effective downfield passing game. That was Vanderbilt's fourth-straight game in which it fell short of 300 yards of offense.

Saturday made Vanderbilt's need for a playmaker or two not named Eli Stowers apparent in a way that no other team on its schedule has to this point. It also made its magician quarterback look uniquely human and uncomfortable in a way that hasn't yet been seen.

Pavia took hit, after hit, after hit on Saturday. That was a microcosm of the game as a whole.

South Carolina was the aggressor all day, it also never let its foot off the gas.

The course of Vanderbilt's season isn't altered by any means, but it has some answers to search for as it enters its final bye week.