South Carolina Gamecocks vs Vanderbilt Commodores Match Player Stats On Sep 20, 2014

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 20, 2014

No. 16 South Carolina 48, Vanderbilt 34: Dylan Thompson passed for three touchdowns and rushed for another as the visiting Gamecocks rallied from an early 14-0 deficit to defeat the Commodores.

Pharoh Cooper caught a career-high 10 passes for 114 yards and rushed for 74 more yards while Brison Williams returned an interception 53 yards for the go-ahead score to lead South Carolina (3-1, 2-1 SEC). It was the 202nd SEC coaching win for Steve Spurrier, moving him into second place ahead of Georgia's Vince Dooley and behind only legendary Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant (292) in conference history.

Darrius Sims set a school record with kickoff returns of 91 and 100 yards for touchdowns to lead Vanderbilt (1-3, 0-2). Ralph Webb rushed for a game-high 97 yards and Wade Freebeck came off the bench to pass for 168 yards, including a 7-yard TD toss to Kris Kentera for the final score of the game.

Vanderbilt, which hadn't scored in the first quarter in three games this season, needed only 11 seconds to find the end zone as Sims returned the opening kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown. The Commodores upped the lead to 14-0 when starting quarterback Patton Robinette hit C.J. Duncan with an 8-yard scoring pass.

South Carolina rallied to take a 17-14 halftime lead as Thompson connected with Damiere Byrd for a 29-yard score after a 45-yard field goal by Elliott Fry, and Williams returned his interception just 23 seconds before intermission. After Thompson completed a 29-yard TD pass to Shaq Roland early in the third quarter, Sims recorded his second kickoff-return touchdown to cut Vanderbilt's deficit to 24-21, but the Gamecocks gradually pulled away thanks to Thompson's third scoring pass of the game, a 7-yarder to Nick Jones, and TD runs by Thompson and David Williams.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Robinette left the game after his first-quarter touchdown pass with an injury suffered when his head slammed against the turf at the end of a run. ... Vanderbilt presented national championship rings to its 2014 baseball team at halftime. ... South Carolina leads the all-time series with Vanderbilt 20-4, including six straight victories.