Thoughts on Vanderbilt's loss to South Carolina

Coach Clark Lea didn’t mince words in the post-game press conference, referring to this one as “a three-phase ass-kicking.” I’d push back on that a little bit as I thought special teams play was good as little as it mattered) but Lea was correct about the rest.

I’m sure the Commodores will flush this one and move on but no question, Vanderbilt was displeased with what was debatably (it’s either this one or Georgia State) its worst performance this season.

South Carolina’s front seven was way too much.

If you wondered where the nightmare matchup for the Commodores could be, this was it. And the nightmare happened.

I’m not sure Diego Pavia got a clean pocket for long more than once or twice today, which wasn’t entirely surprising. South Carolina’s Kyle Kennard and host of other defenders up front were just too much for Vanderbilt to handle.

I thought Texas’s front seven might be the best Vanderbilt would see this year. And maybe Vanderbilt just had a bad day, but I left feeling I’d seen one better than the Longhorns brought a few weeks ago.

The lack of a pass rush was really disappointing.

And if you wondered where Vanderbilt could take advantage of South Carolina and pull an upset, exposing a porous offensive line was that spot. The Gamecocks were allowing sacks on 13.6% of pass plays coming in, and didn’t allow one on Saturday.

Vanderbilt’s Langston Patterson lamented his team’s ability to get sacks, but noted the Commodores had chances. Perhaps none was more glaring than an opportunity early in the third quarter when Vanderbilt had LaNorris Sellers nearly corralled around the goal line before Sellers escaped pursuit, ran left and fired a 51-yard pass.

That typified the day: Even when Vanderbilt was there, it lacked the physical presence/attention to detail/whatever to finish a play, and that was one think keeping the Commodores from making a game of it.

Lack of an explosive running game was again a problem.

Last week, Vanderbilt had a long run of seven yards. On Saturday, Pavia eclipsed that with a 17-yard scoring run but none of his teammates had a gain over seven yards. That came from Nate Johnson, and taking him away, the long run came from Sedrick Alexander (six).

It’s absolutely an area the Commodores need to shore up either in recruiting or on the portal this winter.

Diego Pavia looked more fresh today.

Whoever Vanderbilt’s problems were today, Pavia wasn’t part of them. There wasn’t much good news today but maybe the most encouraging thing to come out of the game was the fact Pavia seemed to have more of a burst than he did in the Auburn game.

The bye weeks comes at a great time.

The Commodores weren’t exactly complaining that they had a bye week ahead, and it’s hard to blame them. Six games in six weeks seem to have taken a bit of a toll on the offense for sure and Saturday, the defense lacked the sharpness with which it played most of the previous for games.

Jesse Mirco punted well (again).

Mirco has been great all season and somehow, it seems he’s still getting better each week. Mirco punted five times for a 49.6-yard average and landed two inside the 20 today.

Brock Taylor didn’t attempt a field goal today.

It’s the first time that’s been the case for Taylor this season.