OCTOBER 14, 2015 | ISSUE no. 4
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WHO’S WHO WHO’’S NEXT?
Beyond Pharoh Cooper, South Carolina’s options at wide receiver are limited
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carolina VS. vandy
CONTENTS CONTENTS
6 WHO’S NEXT?
Beyond Pharoh Cooper, South Carolina’s options at wide receiver are limited ON THE COVER: Junior wide receiver Pharoh Cooper before the start of the Georgia game on Sept. 19, 2015, in Athens, Georgia. Photo by Travis Bell / Sideline Carolina
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OPPONENT PREVIEW: Sliding ‘Dores To paraphrase a common saying: Thank God for Vanderbilt ILLUSTRATION SENIOR PROFILE: Potential Energy A key part of the Carolina offense, Jerell Adams is still putting it together OPINION: Bail Out Vanderbilt could be just the opponent Carolina needs GAMECOCK EXTRAS
PUBLISHER: Charlie Nutt | charlien@free-times.com, ext. 129 EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Dan Cook | danc@free-times.com, ext. 133 MANAGING EDITOR: Patrick Wall | sideline@free-times.com PRODUCTION MANAGER: Lisa Heinz | lisaw@free-times.com, ext. 121 SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Joey Ayer | joeya@free-times.com, ext. 150 GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Dré Lopez | drel@free-times.com, ext. 145 CONTRIBUTORS Travis Bell, Paul Collins, Gwinn Davis, Chris Dearing, James Harley, Scott Hood ILLUSTRATOR: Dré Lopez ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Angie Bledsoe | angieb@free-times.com, ext. 131 Hyatt Drake | hyattd@free-times.com, ext. 153 Sue Miller | suem@free-times.com, ext. 134 Jessica Rowland | jessicar@free-times.com, ext. 141 Jerry Viles | jerryv@free-times.com, ext. 140 Hunter Wise I hunterw@free-times.com, ext. 123 Zoe Levy I zoel@free-times.com, ext. 130 Josh Findlay I joshf@free-times.com, ext. 128 ADVERTISING ASSISTANT Xavier Edwards | xaviere@free-times.com OFFICE MANAGER Anton Dela Cruz | antond@free-times.com, ext. 132 VICE PRESIDENT-OPERATIONS Jen Coody | jenc@free-times.com, ext. 124 THE SIDE LINE IS PUBLISHED BY RESORTS MEDIA LLC 1534 Main St., Columbia, SC 29201 PO Box 8295, Columbia, SC 29202 (803) 765-0707 • free-times.com Advertisers in The Side Line assume responsibility for the entire content and subject matter of all advertisements. In case of error or omissions in advertisement, the publisher’s sole liability shall be to publish the advertisement at a later date. Notice of error must be made within ten days of first insertion. © 2015 Resorts Media. All rights reserved.
CAROLINA FOOTBALL
2015 SCHEDULE 9/12 vs. NORTH CAROLINA Charlotte, N.C.
9/12 9/19 9/26 10/3 10/10 10/17 10/31 11/7 11/14 11/21 11/28
vs. at vs. at vs. vs. at at vs. vs. vs.
W, 17-13
KENTUCKY
Columbia, S.C.
l, 26-22
GEORGIA
Athens, Ga.
L, 52-20
CENTRAL FLORIDA Columbia, S.C.
w, 31-14
MISSOURI
Columbia, Mo.
L, 24-10
LSU
Baton Rouge, Lap.m.
L, 45-24
VANDERBILT Columbia, S.C.p.m.
TEXAS A&M
College Station, Texas
TENNESSEE Knoxville, Tenn.
TBA TBA TBA
FLORIDA Columbia, S.C.
TBA
CITADEL Columbia, S.C.
TBA
CLEMSON Columbia, S.C.
= SEC game
TBA
OPPONENT PREVIEW
BY Chris Dearing
VANDERBILT
commodores CONFERENCE: Southeastern 2014 RECORD: 3-9 (0-8 SEC) 2015 RECORD: 2-3 (0-2 SEC) SERIES RECORD: Carolina leads, 20-4 COACH: Derek Mason YEARS AS COACH: 2 RECORD AT VANDERBILT: 5-12 LAST MEETING: Carolina 48, Vanderbilt 34 (Sept. 20, 2014 in Nashville, TN) RETURNING STARTERS: 18 (9 offense, 9 defense)
THREE TO WATCH The opening kickoff of the South Carolina-Vanderbilt game in Columbia on Sept. 14, 2013. Photo by Travis Bell / Sideline Carolina
Sliding ‘Dores To paraphrase a common saying: Thank God for Vanderbilt
H
ere’s a frightening thought: If South Carolina can look at one team in the SEC as an almost mirror image, it would have to be Vanderbilt.
The Commodores — 2-3 overall, and winless in the SEC — have played well at times, but they mostly haven’t been able to string together four solid quarters. They opened the season with a surprising loss to a surprisingly not bad Western Kentucky team before losing to Georgia by 17 the following week. A blowout win over Austin Peay State, of the FCS Ohio Valley Conference, gave Vandy enough momentum to hang with Mississippi the next week. The Rebels needed some late special-teams magic to finally pull away from Vanderbilt. But the next week, the ‘Dores
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were back to being a doormat, needing a fourth-quarter rally to avoid what would have been an excruciating loss to Middle Tennessee State in week five. So much like the Gamecocks, Vandy hopes the second half of its season is better than the first. That said, Vanderbilt boasts a stout defense. The Commodores are allowing just 18.4 points per game. And the Commodores are only allowing 107 rushing yards per game — though they did allow 189 to Georgia’s Nick Chubb. Defensive backs Darreon Herring and Oren Burke are the leading tacklers; linebackers Zach Cunningham and Nigel
Bowden are just behind those two. Offensively, the Commodores are averaging 413 yards per game but only 21.3 points. Turnovers have killed Commodore drives: Vandy quarterbacks have thrown eight picks, and the ‘Dores have lost three fumbles. Johnny McCrary has started each game under center, but DeAndre Woods has taken a lot of snaps at quarterback in each game. With 302 yards this season, Ralph Webb is the leading rusher. Trent Sherfield is the team’s leading receiver, and is one of the top wideouts in the SEC.
Johnny McCrary, QB Sophomore quarterback Johnny McCrary has an interception problem. He threw two crippling red-zone interceptions that cost the Commodores a win against Western Kentucky, then threw three more picks against Georgia and two against Middle Tennessee State. Then again, he does have a legitimate, Pharoh Cooper-like gamebreaker in wideout Trent Sherfield, and the Gamecock D has been making opposing quarterbacks look very, very good this year.
Ralph Webb, RB It looked as if Vanderbilt was going to lose its second game against a Conference USA foe until the sophomore running back’s 39-yard scamper gave the ‘Dores the go-ahead score against Middle Tennessee State. The redshirt sophomore was one of the few bright spots on Vandy’s woeful offense last year (and this year’s, too), and is making a move toward the top tier of SEC running backs.
Zach Cunningham, LB Cunningham, a sophomore, had a breakout game against Middle Tennessee State, racking up a careerhigh 15 tackles, 12 of them solo and 2.5 tackles for loss. He made the play of the first half, too, stuffing Blue Rider quarterback Brent Stockstill on a fourth-and-goal with 6:09 left in the second quarter to prevent what would have been a back-breaking touchdown.
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Junior wide receiver Pharoh Cooper tries to avoid Kentucky defensive end Farrington Huguenin on Sept. 12, 2015. Photo by Travis Bell / Sideline Carolina
WHO’S NEXT?
Beyond Pharoh Cooper, South Carolina’s options at wide receiver are limited
BY SCOTT HOOD
S
ome adventurers look for Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. South Carolina’s offensive coaches? They’ve been hunting far and wide for a wide receiver to complement Pharoh Cooper. They haven’t found what they are looking for, either. The wide receiving corps is Cooper or bust as Carolina rounds the halfway point of the 2015 schedule. Not only is Cooper the Gamecocks’ most productive wide receiver by a wide margin, he’s possibly the Gamecocks’ lone legitimate passing-game weapon
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outside of senior tight end Jerell Adams. “You try to get the ball to your playmakers and your best players,” head coach Steve Spurrier said. “We’re still hoping the other guys can get involved. Hopefully, some of them can come around and contribute.” Carolina’s frustrating 24-10 loss at Missouri two weekends ago encapsulated how badly the Gamecocks’ passing attack has malfunctioned. Cooper enjoyed a typically
solid game, catching nine balls for 102 yards. But he was the only Carolina wide receiver notching more than one reception. The only other receivers to catch a pass against the Tigers were Carlton Heard and Matrick Belton, each with one catch. The Kentucky game played out the same way: Cooper collected nine receptions, but no other receiver caught more than one. When the Gamecocks flew home from Missouri, Cooper had accounted for more carolina VS. vandy
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Georgia cornerback Malkom Parrish breaks up a pass intended for freshman wide receiver Deebo Samuel in Athens, Georgia, on Sept. 19, 2015. Photo by Travis Bell / Sideline Carolina than one third of Carolina’s receptions, and 61 percent of those by receivers in 2015. “The coaches are going to find ways to put the ball into my hands in certain situations,” Cooper said. “We have a lot of plays that are designed to go to other receivers. So, if they design a play to go to me, I’m just trying to make a play on it.” Part of the struggles can be attributed to the receiving corps’ difficult time getting open against SEC-caliber defensive backs. But that shouldn’t be surprising: Experience counts for a lot at the SEC level, and that was something in short supply when the season started. Attrition devastated Carolina’s wide receiver corps heading into the 2015 season. Damiere Byrd and Nick Jones graduated; Shaq Roland and K.J. Brent left the program unexpectedly. The only receiver outside of Cooper to have ever caught a pass in college: Shamier Jeffery. Jeffery caught eight passes in his college career, but five of them came
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against Arkansas in 2013. Jeffery contributed little in his career, and failed to develop into a genuine receiving threat. Was he overrated coming out of Calhoun County High School because he was Alshon’s little brother? Probably. But Jeffery graduated recently, so he will at least leave with a degree in hand. “He came in with a bunch of guys that didn’t particularly survive here,” Steve Spurrier Jr., Carolina’s wide receivers coach, said earlier this season. “It’s not easy to make your five years and graduate here. He is going to graduate, and I’m particularly proud of him.” So when the season started, it was basically Cooper and everybody else. “There is one guy that is qualified to play as many snaps as he wants,” Spurrier Jr. said. “Everyone else is on a snap-tosnap basis.” Contributing to the lack of production by the Gamecock receivers is youth. Without a doubt, most of Carolina’s receivers on the 2015 roster
were unproven, as they’d yet to catch a pass — or even see a snap — in a college game. When the season began, seven of the 10 scholarship receivers on the 2015 roster were true freshmen or redshirt freshmen. If there was one young wide receiver who looked primed for a breakout in preseason camp, it was Deebo Samuel, who made several circus catches during scrimmages and consistently lined up with the first team offense opposite Cooper during the fall and most of the spring. But Samuel hasn’t yet lifted off from the launching pad. He caught three passes in the first three games, including a couple against Georgia. But a few days later Samuel, a redshirt freshman from Inman, aggravated a hamstring injury he suffered against North Carolina in practice, and he missed the games against Central Florida and Missouri. Once he gets healthy, he should post a strong second half. Indeed, injuries have played a significant factor
in the receivers’ struggles. Both redshirt freshman Shaq Davidson, who tore a ligament in his right knee, and true freshman Jerad Washington, who broke his left leg, suffered season-ending injuries during preseason camp, depleting the depth as both were expected to make a contribution this season. The absences of Davidson, Washington and Samuel have certainly been felt in the passcatching department. Despite the struggles of the younger receivers, Spurrier vowed to get them involved as much as possible, rather than just rely solely on quarterback Lorenzo Nuñez’s legs for a large chunk of the offense. “We’ve got to keep throwing,” Spurrier said. “We’re not good enough to just pound it.” Cooper has seemingly sought to make up for the injuries to Davidson, Washington and Samuel by himself. Cooper is certainly one of the most dangerous receivers in the SEC, and his credentials are impeccable. His carolina VS. vandy
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Junior wide receiver Pharoh Cooper runs in a touchdown catch against Central Florida in Columbia on Sept. 26, 2015. Photo by Travis Bell / Sideline Carolina
nine receptions at Missouri put him on the cusp of 100 career receptions, and he’s within shouting distance of a top 10 spot on Carolina’s all-time receiving yardage list. Redshirt freshman Terry Googer enjoyed a solid debut, catching two passes against North Carolina for 39 yards. But he’s virtually disappeared since, his lack of consistency keeping him off the field. “One thing Terry Googer can do is catch the ball with people hanging all over him,” Spurrier said. “So he has a chance. We’re trying to get him to play a little faster. He’s sort of an easy going, lackadaisical guy a little bit. We’re trying to get the receivers to play fast and have confidence and go make the play.” According to Spurrier Jr., Cooper moves at “100 miles per hour” when the ball is snapped. The younger receivers? Not so much. “When the ball is snapped,
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Pharoh moves,” Spurrier Jr. said. “Googer is still at about 55 (miles per hour), but he’s learning. It takes a lot of time to learn all the stuff they have to know to play. These guys haven’t played. As they get going throughout the year, they’ll get better and better throughout the year.” Against Central Florida, Spurrier Jr. turned to highly touted freshman D.J. Neal, who had made his first career reception the previous game. Neal, though, dropped a throw early in the game and was barely targeted the rest of the game. He’s caught just one pass in five games. “He’s still a young guy, so he will make mistakes,” Spurrier Jr. said of Neal. “We just have to support and encourage him as much as we can. He certainly will have a big role in this offense. He needs to just keep getting better every week and help us win games.” Carlton Heard and Matrick
Belton, both of whom arrived at USC as walk-ons, and have caught five passes apiece, but neither has seized a firm hold on the No. 2 receiver slot. “In practice, we don’t have guys making circus catches and we have a lot of drops,” Spurrier said earlier this season. “It’s sort of irritating. We’re waiting on somebody to show up. We’re waiting for one of these guys in practice to leap up and make the catch.” “We all know Pharoh can catch,” he continued. “But the other guys, we’re waiting on them to show up. We have to throw at them.” Looking for a spark, the Carolina coaches shifted 6-foot-5 walk-on tight end Hayden Hurst, a former minor league baseball player in the Pirates organization, to wide receiver after the Central Florida game. Hurst struggled with blocking, a vitally important responsibility for any tight end.
“We were asking him to get in there and hit a defensive end, but that is difficult to do if you’ve never done it and haven’t put on a football helmet in a number of years,” Spurrier Jr. said. “But he can run and catch, and he’s an intelligent kid. He is very motivated. He’s 21 years old, so he’s really not a kid. I think he will fit in pretty well with us.” Since nobody has stepped up to fill No. 2 receiver slot, anybody can claim it, Spurrier said. Just because somebody is taking reps on the scout team this week doesn’t mean they won’t take steps with the first team offense next week. “You’ll get a shot if someone has a bad day,” Spurrier Jr. said. “And if you have a bad day, someone’s going ahead of you. If you have a good day, you’ll stay right there. If you are young and on the scout team today, you could be starting in four weeks.”
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OCTOBER 14, 2015 | ISSUE no. 4
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SENIOR PROFILE
BY Chris Dearing
Senior tight end Jerell Adams scores a fourth-quarter touchdown against Kentucky on Sept. 12, 2015. Photo by Lindsay Hickman / S.C. News Exchange
TE HOMETOWN: Pinewood, S.C.
JERELL ADAMS HEIGHT / WEIGHT:
6-6 / 231
EXPERIENCE:
3 VL
Potential Energy A key part of the Carolina offense, Jerell Adams is still putting it together
P
otential is a dangerous word. On one hand, scouts, coaches and so-called experts talking about a player’s potential see skills, body and work ethic that should make a player elite. On the other hand, talking about a player’s potential means the player hasn’t reached the things most people expect from him.
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Senior tight end Jerell Adams has at least six more games in his college career to make people stop talking his potential and start talking about results. “We keep thinking he’s going to bust out and have a really big year. He should,” head coach Steve Spurrier says. “This is his last go-round. Jerell should get a lot of
opportunities, and hopefully he’ll have a big year.” Adams is a classic study in unrealized potential. He’s a 6-foot-6, 231-pound physical specimen who’d has shown flashes of brilliance but hadn’t found consistency the field. But after five games this season, Adams was the Gamecocks second leading carolina VS. vandy
thought Adams would have a breakout junior year. That didn’t quite happen. Though he was again named Most Improved Tight End, Adams played sparingly in the first six games and posted only three catches. But he played the best football of his career in the final six games of the season after Rory Anderson strained his triceps. Adams caught 17 passes for 220 yards during that time. Again, most thought that would be a springboard to a great senior campaign. But through the first five games this year, Adams’ production has been limited by the Gamecocks’ quarterback carousel. Carolina’s played three quarterbacks, and none have found much success guiding the passing game. There might be some frustration setting in. That was something the coaching staff warned Adams about before the start of the season. Adams has gone radio-silent since preseason practice, and has refused several interview requests this season. “They don’t want me to get all frustrated and put a whole lot of pressure on myself,” Adams said back in early August. G.A. Mangus, who coaches the quarterbacks and tight ends, wanted Adams to be a huge part of the offense this season. So far, the jury is still out. “We needed him to produce this year and he knew that,” Mangus said. “He’s made some nice plays but we’re still need him to find more consistency. He’s still working hard every day, and I expect him to make some plays for us down the stretch.” One thing Adams has strived to do this season is become a more
vocal and better leader for a young, inexperienced tight end group, led by freshmen Jacob August, Kyle Markway and K.C. Crosby. “First thing is to make sure I’m doing what I’ve got to be doing on the field and then prepping everybody else up,” Adams said. He remembers having to wait his turn behind Rory Anderson, and how that weighed on him. “A lot of young guys can get confused and frustrated if they’re not getting a lot of reps,” Adams says, “and I just tell them, ‘When you get your turn, do what you’ve got to do. Do what the coaches are telling you.’ I know how frustrating it can be.” His on-field success has been limited, but Adams is slated to graduate in December with a degree in public health. He’s been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll several times, twice during the fall. He was the recipient of the Dr. Harris Pastides Outstanding Student-Athlete Representative at the 2015 Garnet & Black Game. So he has a decent fallback plan if a post college football career doesn’t work out. Despite his lack of production, Adams has the eyes of NFL scouts. He will get every opportunity to play at the next level. He describes his blocking as “decent,” but his main focus is trying to have a spectacular senior season. It’s been slow going so far, but he can definitely make his mark over the last half of the season. “I try not to get into all the NFL talk,” Adams said. “I just want to let my playing skills tell it all.” He has six games to make that happen.
AVG/G
Receiving
AVG/G
Defense
Tight end Jerell Adams, then a sophomore, hangs on to a touchdown catch against Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Florida, on Jan. 1, 2014. Photo by Travis Bell / Sideline Carolina receiver, with 12 catches for 164 yards and a touchdown. Coming into the season, Adams had 38 receptions for 556 yards and four touchdowns in 35 career games. The highlights have been hit and miss during his career. As a true freshman, Adams — a four-star recruit who played quarterback, tight end, linebacker, defensive end and punter at tiny Scott’s Branch High School in Summerton and attended Fork Union Military Academy —
caught four passes for 90 yards and a touchdown in nine games. Despite his limited playing time and meager numbers, Adams was voted to the SEC All-Freshman team by conference coaches. The following season, Adams was named Most Improved Tight End in spring practice. He played in all 13 games, bringing in 13 receptions for 187 yards and two scores. He caught a touchdown in the Capital One Bowl victory over Wisconsin, and coaches and fans
GAMECOCK Game STATs Passing GP Perry Orth Lorenzo Nuñez Connor Mitch Pharoh Cooper M. Scarnecchia Team Total
Rushing Lorenzo Nuñez Shon Carson Brandon Wilds David Williams Pharoh Cooper Team Total
EFFIC. COMP-ATT-INT PCT
6 4 2 6 1 6
108.6 130.0 104.0 16.5 175.6 111.93
GP 4 6 3 6 6 6
ATT 45 37 35 51 14 217
37-75-3 31-51-3 13-29-0 1-3-0 1-1-0 83-161-6
49.3 60.8 44.8 33.3 100.0 51.6
GAIN LOSS NET 340 188 182 193 91 1,126
41 4 1 14 3 101
OCTOBER 14, 2015 | ISSUE no. 4
299 184 181 179 88 1,025
YDS
TD
AVG
TD
483 374 165 -6 9 1,025 6.6 5.0 5.2 3.5 6.3 4.7
3 3 1 0 0 7
1 1 0 0 1 5
LG 43 35 27 0 9 43
LG 33 48 34 16 29 48
80.5 93.5 82.5 -1.2 9.0 170.8 74.8 30.7 60.3 29.8 14.7 170.8
Pharoh Cooper Jerell Adams Brandon Wilds Matrick Belton Carlton Heard Team Total Skai Moore Isaiah Johnson T.J. Gurley Jordan Diggs Marquavius Lewis Team Total
GP
NO.
YDS
AVG
TD
GP
SOLO
ASST.
TOT
SACK
6 6 3 6 5 6
6 6 6 6 6 6
33 13 6 6 5 83
38 20 20 15 12 255
427 200 66 43 78 1,025 20 15 7 11 12 146
12.9 15.4 11.0 7.2 15.6 12.3
3 2 0 0 0 7
58 35 27 26 24 401
0 0 0 0 1 10
|
LG
43 36 20 15 31 43
AVG/G
71.2 33.3 22.0 7.2 15.6 170.8
INT TFL/YDS 3 0 0 1 0 6
freetimes
3.5-8 1.5-2 1.0-4 0.5-0 1-12 29-108
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OPINION
BY james harley
Running back Brandon Wilds, then a sophomore, runs for a touchdown against Vanderbilt in Columbia on Sept. 14, 2013. Photo by Travis Bell / Sideline Carolina
Bail Out
Vanderbilt could be just the opponent Carolina needs
A
fter three consecutive 11-2 seasons, it was easy to remain optimistic, to believe that the Gamecocks’ subsequent dip to 7-6 was a simple bump in the road and that the team would bounce back and return to glory again this year. Opening the new season with a win over North Carolina was encouraging. While falling to Georgia by a large margin was painful, it was not entirely unexpected; the Bulldogs always present a significant challenge. At the time, even the loss to Kentucky could be written off as just some bad luck that could be buried under the success to come. Provided, of course, that success would actually come. The victory over Central Florida, then, was encouraging. It returned the Gamecocks to .500, and put the team in a position to move forward again. But alas, then came the Missouri loss, which gave Carolina its third
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conference defeat. Suddenly, the old excuses — “But it’s OK to lose to Georgia!” and “Oh, that Kentucky loss was a fluke!” — were less applicable. The season is only so long, and it offers only so many chances to save a
sinking ship once it starts taking on water. Now, even the modest goal of finishing at .500 and making a bowl game promises to be a struggle. The remaining schedule does the
Gamecocks no favors: It features three teams that beat them last year (Texas A&M, Tennessee and Clemson) in addition to a rejuvenated Florida squad that’s returned to the national spotlight after a two-year stumble and cannot be taken lightly. If there is to be any hope of a salvaged season and bowl eligibility, the Gamecocks will need to take down at least one of those foes — all of whom will certainly be heavy favorites. The remaining contests against The Citadel and Vanderbilt, then, become must-win games for the Gamecocks. History is clearly on the Gamecocks’ side against Vanderbilt. Carolina leads by a fairly impressive 20-4 margin. The two East Division schools have played each other every year since Carolina joined the SEC in 1992; they played each other only once prior, a Carolina win in Nashville in 1961. The Commodores’ last series wins came in a two-year streak in 2007 and 2008. But the Commodores’ six-year slump since then highlights a disturbingly clear pattern within this history: Vandy always beats Carolina twice in a row after losing seven. If the pattern holds, the Gamecocks would be slated to win this year but then drop the next two — something that most Gamecock fans can envision as truly possible based on recent play. But there are also legitimate reasons to fear the Commodores this year. Carolina and Vandy faced a common opponent in Georgia, and the Commodores far and away fared better against the Bulldogs. Vandy hung around until midway through the third quarter, when Georgia put them away 31-14. Carolina, meanwhile, never posed a substantial threat to Georgia, and the Bulldogs wiped the floor with the Gamecocks 52-20. The 32-point loss was almost double Vandy’s margin. Too, the Commodores legitimately challenged then-No. 3 Ole Miss, losing by a respectable 11 points, 27-16. Meanwhile, unranked Missouri, which beat lowly Connecticut 9-6, beat the Gamecocks by two touchdowns. Still, history is on the Gamecocks’ side. Carolina should take this one, even if the Gamecocks haven’t played up to their potential this season. While Vandy has fought hard, they still have no wins worth bragging about, only losses — including the seasonopening stinker against Western Kentucky, which must certainly be considered more humiliating than even Carolina’s Kentucky fiasco. Add that Vandy is coming off of a momentumsuppressing bye week during which Carolina battled a Top 10 opponent (LSU), and it’s likely that Carolina will be the team fired up and ready to play. Gamecocks 34, Commodores 17.
carolina VS. vandy
GAMECOCK EXTRAS
South Carolina’s Pharoh Cooper hauls in a touchdown catch in front of UCF’s Drico Johnson during third-quarter action in Columbia, S.C. on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015. Photo by Travis Bell / Sideline Carolina
South Carolina’s Larenz Bryant leaps and takes down UCF’s C.J. Jones during second-quarter action in Columbia, S.C. on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015. Photo by Travis Bell / Sideline Carolina
South Carolina’s Pharoh Cooper runs into the endzone for a touchdown in front of UCF’s Jeremy Boykins during third-quarter action in Columbia, S.C. on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015. Photo by Travis Bell / Sideline Carolina
South Carolina’s Lorenzo Nunez is tripped up after a gain by UCF’s Drico Johnson (21) and Kyle Gibson during first-quarter action in Columbia, S.C. on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015. Photo by Travis Bell / Sideline Carolina
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go gamecocks!
VA
ND
Y
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carolina VS. vandy