South Carolina @ Vanderbilt preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 14, 2013 ) Vanderbilt 25, South Carolina 35

No. 16 South Carolina goes on the road for the first time this season when it travels to Vanderbilt for an SEC Eastern Division game Saturday. Both teams are coming in off narrow wins after surprisingly rocky starts to their seasons. The Gamecocks, considered a strong candidate to be one of the four teams to make the College Football Playoff, have won three straight including a 38-35 victory over No. 6 Georgia last Saturday since opening the season with a stunning 52-28 home loss to Texas A&M, while Vanderbilt held off Massachusetts, 34-31, following back-to-back blowout losses to Temple and Ole Miss.

The win over rival Georgia, which missed two field goals and had a touchdown called back, kept the preseason hopes of a divisional crown alive for the Gamecocks, but coach Steve Spurrier warned his squad this week that it still has a long ways to go to win an SEC title. "If we think we're a pretty good football team just because we beat Georgia with a lot of good breaks then we're fooling ourselves," Spurrier said. "We've got a lot of room for improvement if we're going to have a chance to have a big year."

TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network. LINE: South Carolina -22

ABOUT SOUTH CAROLINA (2-1, 1-1 SEC): QB Dylan Thompson threw for 271 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Georgia and is averaging 301 yards passing per game. He can lean on a strong running game led by the junior combo of Brandon Wilds (62.3 ypg) and Mike Davis (60.7 ypg) and an offensive line led by massive 6-foot-8, 348-pound tackle Corey Robinson, who was named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week after the Georgia win. LB Skai Moore leads the defense with 23 tackles.

ABOUT VANDERBILT (1-2, 0-1): The Commodores have struggled badly on offense under first-year coach Derek Mason, scoring a total of just 10 points in their first two games before breaking out for 34 in the victory over winless UMass. However, two of those touchdowns came via defense and special teams. RB Ralph Webb has been the team's most consistent offensive weapon, running for a career-high 116 yards on 26 carries and scoring his first career touchdown in the win over UMass.

EXTRA POINTS

1. South Carolina is 12-5 in its last 17 road contests with four of the losses to ranked opponents.

2. The Gamecocks lead the all-time series 19-4 and have won the last five in a row.

3. Spurrier enters the game tied with Georgia's Vince Dooley with 201 SEC coaching wins which ranks second behind only legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant's 292.

PREDICTION: South Carolina 44, Vanderbilt 7