South Carolina Gamecocks at Vanderbilt Commodores Post-Game: Topics for Discussion / Thoughts Thread

by Gamecock Man on Oct 23, 2025 11:19 PM EDT in Football

More photos » Frederick Breedon - AP

2 months ago: Vanderbilt head coach Robbie Caldwell, left, chats with South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier prior to an NCAA college football game against on Saturday, October 23, 2010, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Frederick Breedon)

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1. This wasn't a bad win. I know a lot of us were hoping to blow Vandy out, but, at the end of the day, a road win is good news in the SEC, especially when you struggle on the road as much as we do. Plus, I think we played a bit better than the score indicates. We had nearly 500 total yards and could have very well scored 35 or so if not for some missed opportunities. You obviously can't take too much pressure for yards that don't equal points, but I think it's worth noting that we didn't look bad despite not having our best player, who, by the way, will likely be well rested and ready to go next week against UT because of our coaches' wise decision not to play him.

2. This game reestablished my confidence in Spurrier and the offensive staff. The game plan in the first half wasn't effective, but Spurrier made the right adjustments in the second half by going to the running game and the wide receiver screens. After the Kentucky game, I needed to see these kinds of choices from our coaches, because frankly I was worried that we might be heading down the same road we went down at this point last season, where the offense got very predictable and unproductive. I wanted to see that that wouldn't be the case again this year, and I did.

3. Brian Maddox is our backup tailback. A lot of us have been wondering why Kenny Miles wasn't getting many touches. Now we know--the coaches rightly believe that Maddox is a better option. I like Kenny and want to see him continue to get opportunities (and it's probably worth noting that he might have gotten more yards against the gassed Vandy defense we saw later in the game), but I'm confident in Maddox now as the primary alternative to Marcus Lattimore. He had a great game and it's good to see him playing like this in his senior season.

4. The defense was much better, and the coaches were right to move to more aggressive coverage schemes. It's hard to say too much about doing well against an offense as impotent as Vandy's, but I'm still very pleased with the defense's play. They were a little shaky early on, but once they settled in, they were dominant. The press coverages worked wonders, as Vandy's receivers were almost completely unable to get separation. I'm still miffed at our inability to force turnovers, though. We left a fumble and two or three interceptions on the field in this one. Not being able to get a turnover against a team like Vandy is pretty pathetic.

5. The officiating in this game was horrendous. I wish the SEC would do something about this crap, but it's more or less the norm now. You can expect to get hosed almost anytime you go on the road.

I'll have more tomorrow, folks. For now, share your reactions in the comments section.

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Comments

Watching OK-Mizzou...

The road sure is a rough place for Number One these days.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Oct 23, 2025 11:26 PM EDT reply actions

I didn't feel as good about this game.

It sure didn’t feel like a 21 - 7 win.

The game plan in the first half wasn’t effective, but Spurrier made the right adjustments in the second half by going to the running game and the wide receiver screens.

Spurrier seems to make good adjustments at half time when we’re behind, but not when we’re ahead. When we go into the half with the lead, it’s like he doesn’t expect the opposing team to make any changes. Look at the Kentucky game. He seems to be able to adjust and gameplan if given adequate time, but he doesn’t adjust on the fly. Why did we have to wait until half time to adjust? Why couldn’t we recognize they were blitzing hard in the first quarter then more to the wide receiver screens we saw all throughout the second half?

Dum spiro spero - "While I breathe, I hope"
State motto of South Carolina

by The Feathered Warrior on Oct 23, 2025 11:27 PM EDT reply actions

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree in this one.

It felt like a 30-7 win to me. I felt very confident for most of the second half, although that’s probably partly because I didn’t really fear Vandy’s ability to move the ball and score and felt like we had it wrapped up as long as we didn’t give them any points through turnovers.

I agree about the adjustments, though. I’m glad we made them eventually, but you’re right that we should have been able to do it on the fly. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that that’s the approach we should have taken, and if we had made those changes in the first half, we could be looking at a much different score.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Oct 23, 2025 11:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Another thing that I'm pleased with...

is that this was probably the best game Garcia has ever had on the road. He missed on a couple of passes, but he generally played well.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Oct 23, 2025 11:34 PM EDT up reply actions

Eh, again we'll have to agree to disagree.

His overall stats weren’t too bad, but he held the ball and starred down receivers. Also, we just beat a team 21 - 7 that UGA beat 43 - 0.

This is what I was talking about at the beginning of the season. We don’t seem to be getting better. We need to get better as the season progresses. We might be maintaining. But if teams like UGA, Florida, and Arkansas continue to improve while we don’t, we won’t have a chance at the East crown.

Dum spiro spero - "While I breathe, I hope"
State motto of South Carolina

by The Feathered Warrior on Oct 23, 2025 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Well, he had almost no protection in the first half...

And I blame that on the coaches. Like you said, we should have adjusted to the blitz much earlier than we did. I’ll agree that he

He threw for 350+ and was something like 31-38. Those aren’t bad numbers. He also, while he may have stared down receivers a couple of times, spread the ball around a bit more than usual.

As far as whether or not we’re improving or not, I guess you make a valid point. But don’t you think the defense played better today? And don’t you think it’s worth taking into account that we were without Lattimore?

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Oct 23, 2025 11:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Also...

Georgia is the only one of those teams that’s improving all that much.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Oct 23, 2025 11:59 PM EDT up reply actions

Like we all said in the pregame,

We should be able to man-handle Vanderbilt without Lattimore. And I guess the defense played better… against the worst offense in the SEC. The defense still had a blown assignment for a big gain (maybe the touchdown, can’t remember now). All I’m saying is even if we beat Tennessee next week by the same score, I won’t have seen any improvement unless we play the kind of game we did against ’Bama.

And at some point we have to start winning the turnover battle. That, more than anything else, is killing us. I don’t care whether the offense commits fewer of the defense gets more, but we have to be better.

Also, special teams seems to be getting worse through the season. And that has nothing to do with Lattimore.

Dum spiro spero - "While I breathe, I hope"
State motto of South Carolina

by The Feathered Warrior on Oct 24, 2025 12:00 AM EDT up reply actions

Well, we agree on special teams, at least.

That was a terrible performance for the unit. Getting a 30-yard FG blocked is unforgivable.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Oct 24, 2025 12:09 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm confused why Culliver is now off return duty altogether.

I think he’s the best return man we have. I don’t know what is going on there.

stuff 'bout stuff.

by silver82blade on Oct 24, 2025 12:18 AM EDT up reply actions

I dont either

if Culli isnt returning them, I wanna see what Sanders can do. He has great speed, and good shiftiness.

Culliver though, is our all time leading kick returner in school history, and I believe around 3rd or 4th in the history of the SEC

by Gamecockrock on Oct 24, 2025 1:04 AM EDT up reply actions

It's tough to beat a team badly when they just got blown out.

I was expecting Vandy to come in fired up and looking for blood, and I was already concerned about their defensive line from what I saw early in the Georgia game. They did precisely how I expected. They dominated our offensive line early, and then softened up. Luckily, they dropped all their picks but one (even though he really dropped that one too), and Garcia finished strong. Maddox did very well with the holes he got late.

I honestly wasn’t expecting Carolina to blow them out. I was hoping, but I figured it wasn’t realistic. Now that the dust has settled, and I’ve had time to think about it, I think Carolina did ok.

stuff 'bout stuff.

by silver82blade on Oct 24, 2025 12:16 AM EDT up reply actions

dont forget UGA played in Athens

while we played on the road, which hasnt been friendly to us… and we played in Nashville, for Vandy’s homecoming. Comparing one victory to another teams victory over the same team is about as ineffective a technique as you can get.

by Gamecockrock on Oct 24, 2025 1:03 AM EDT up reply actions

if you look at the stats, we dominated the game more than the score indicates

we doubled Vandy up in yards… we had 25 first downs to Vandy’s 11… and had the ball nearly twice as long as Vandy.

Yes the first 1.5 quarters was UGLY, but at the end of the day I am happy with this win… we finally got a road SEC win again, and it couldnt have come at a better time… we covered our spread and then some (13 point favorites)… and I was able to gain some confidence in our defense again (not much, since it WAS Vandy)

by Gamecockrock on Oct 24, 2025 1:00 AM EDT up reply actions

Looking at Ealey's stat line in UGA-UK...

and seeing how Maddox played tonight can only make one wonder what would have happened in that game if we had given Maddox more chances to run the ball.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Oct 24, 2025 12:07 AM EDT reply actions

Thinking about this will only make me angry all over again

Sure would be nice to be 6-1 and #5 or 6 in the nation.

"They've just discovered a new use for sheep over there at Clemson... wool." - Lewis Grizzard

by GwinnettGamecock on Oct 24, 2025 12:18 AM EDT up reply actions

dont make us #6

I dont like that ranking.

by Gamecockrock on Oct 24, 2025 1:06 AM EDT up reply actions

Well ...

1. The last two quarters against UK, and the first two quarters against Vandy were just atrocious. Why we make so many mental and coaching mistakes is a mystery. A win is a win is a win, but whether recruits watching FSN were impressed - I dont know. I wasn’t.

2. The positive about Garcia - he distributed the ball the way most of us wanted him to .. too bad the OL took the first half off, though they mostly redeemed themselves in the second I loved hearing Gurley’s number get called. We proved that we’re not toally 1 dimensional dependent on Lattimore.

3. The negative about Garcia … even though Vandy was blitzing most every play, he still found a way to throw repeatedly into double and triple coverages. He got burned once … lucky the next. For some reason, 6 or 7 of the shotgun snaps were dangerously high; that is not on Garcia, but it needs to be addressed.

4. No Connor Shaw in this game means either (a) Steve is totally the man from here on out or (b) we’re saving him for something special. Hopefully both.

5. Loved Maddox’s blocking almost as much as his downhill running. I’ve called for Miles as much as anybody and I still think Miles/Maddox or Lattimire/Maddox together, with DiMarco at TE, is better than running four wides and a single back - but that’s why they’re paid the big bucks to coach. Congrats Brian Maddox.

6. I still dont have a take on this D. But they held when they needed to hold. The O made so many dumb mistakes that we left at least 10 points on the field. Special team play cannot grade out well.

7. I like Tim Couch as an analyst. A lot. He actually analyzed the game, rather than working off a narrative. When he was hard on Carolina, it was deserved - when Carolina adjusted, so did his comments. Take notes Bob Davie.

8. We have three home games! Time to pay back the Vols.

They wore garnet helmets.

by tryptic67 on Oct 24, 2025 12:10 AM EDT reply actions

Yeah, I liked Couch.

This coverage crew far excelled the typical clowns you get on ESPN games. I like to learn something about strategy when I watch a football game, not listen to some goofball blabber on and on about psychobabble and the like.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Oct 24, 2025 12:18 AM EDT up reply actions