Wild night in Nashville: South Carolina upends Vanderbilt in wacky SEC clash

In a city filled with party-goers and boot enthusiasts, South Carolina and Vanderbilt combined for a performance seemingly boozier than any of the festivities occurring in the Broadway honky tonks on Saturday night.

The Gamecocks (6-3, 3-3 SEC) and Commodores (3-6, 0-5 SEC) combined for 599 yards of offense, three turnovers and two bench-clearing brawls in the first half alone as South Carolina slugged its way to a high-flying 38-27 win.

The Gamecocks notched the wildest and wackiest score of the night thanks to a fake read-option, broken-play touchdown connection between a scrambling Dakereon Joyner and receiver Antwane “Juice” Wells.

Taking a direct snap as wildcat quarterback, running back Juju McDowell handed off to Joyner. Joyner promptly ran to his left, hit a wall, circled back and dashed toward the South Carolina sideline, where he looped a low ball to a waiting Wells. The Gamecocks’ leading receiver did the rest, dancing through a pair of Vanderbilt defenders and racing into the end zone for a 68-yard score.

Running back Christian Beal-Smith added the third of South Carolina’s four first-half touchdowns. Shortly after leaving the field due to injury, the Wake Forest transfer took a fullback handoff, bounced off Vanderbilt’s initial burst and sprinted off the left tackle and down the sideline for a 52-yard score.

Quarterback Spencer Rattler turned in one of the better halves of his brief Gamecocks career, completing eight of 12 passes for 103 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the opening 30 minutes.

The former Oklahoma signal-caller’s second pass of the night connected with a streaking Xavier Legette up the seam for a 29-yard touchdown. Rattler added the prettiest throw of his night 25 minutes later, stepping into the pocket and delivering a dime to receiver Josh Vann over a trio of defenders in the back right corner of the end zone.

Rattler added his third and final touchdown pass of the night when he delivered a strike to Wells from 17 yards out to push the Gamecocks out to a 38-21 lead just before the third-quarter break.

The ex-five-star recruit’s final scoring pass gave him three passing touchdowns in a game against FBS competition for the first time since the 2020 Cotton Bowl between Oklahoma and Florida.

South Carolina spent the bulk of the week under fire. Shane Beamer answered uncomfortable questions aboutoffensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield and his play-calling duties. Do-it-all tight end Jaheim Bell — who had 19 touches between rushes and receptions on Saturday — had his limited usage against Missouri dissected.

Saturday, South Carolina threw those midweek talking points out the window.

Get Shane Beamer a cowboy hat to match his Pit Viper sunglasses. The Gamecocks are leaving Music City bowl-eligible for the second time in as many years.

Next South Carolina game

Who: South Carolina at Florida

When: 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12

Where: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida.

TV: SEC Network

Stats and scores

——HOW THEY SCORED——

First Quarter

SCAR—Legette 29 pass from Rattler (Jeter kick), 11:23.

VAN—Skinner 66 pass from Swann (Bulovas kick), 9:30.

SCAR—A.Wells 68 pass from Joyner (Jeter kick), 8:36.

SCAR—FG Jeter 31, :21.

Second Quarter

VAN—Skinner 9 pass from Swann (Bulovas kick), 11:08.

SCAR—Beal-Smith 52 run (Jeter kick), 9:13.

SCAR—Vann 19 pass from Rattler (Jeter kick), 1:22.

Third Quarter

VAN—P.Smith 1 run (Bulovas kick), 6:50.

SCAR—A.Wells 17 pass from Rattler (Jeter kick), :51.

Fourth Quarter

VAN—R.Davis 5 pass from M.Wright (pass failed), 6:06.

——INDIVIDUAL STATS——

RUSHING—South Carolina, Bell 16-56, Beal-Smith 3-55, McDowell 5-48, Legette 2-28, Rattler 3-13, Wells 1-9, Joyner 1-8, Brooks 1-(minus 4), (Team) 3-(minus 5). Vanderbilt, R.Davis 20-167, M.Wright 6-43, Smith 13-29, Swann 2-(minus 13).

PASSING—South Carolina, Rattler 16-23-0-186, Joyner 3-4-0-82, Kroeger 1-1-0-16. Vanderbilt, Swann 10-18-1-127, M.Wright 8-15-1-101.

RECEIVING—South Carolina, Wells 4-110, Brooks 4-45, Vann 3-32, Bell 3-27, Legette 2-33, Brown 1-16, Hemingway 1-16, Adkins 1-6, Stogner 1-(minus 1). Vanderbilt, Sheppard 6-95, Skinner 4-79, McGowan 4-20, Bresnahan 2-20, Ball 1-9, R.Davis 1-5.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—Vanderbilt, Bulovas 44.