With six losses through eight games this year, and 12 losses in its last 16 overall, Vanderbilt has made an unwelcome return to the Southeastern Conference basement.
Once again, the Commodores are finding ways to lose games. That winning feeling permeating the squad last year just doesn’t exist anymore.
Take Saturday night for example.
Vanderbilt looked solid, for the most part, at No. 23 South Carolina in a 14-10 loss.
It got steady play by redshirt sophomore quarterback Larry Smith, another dazzling kickoff touchdown return by freshman Warren Norman, a terrific day of punting by senior Brett Upson and a defense that allowed just two touchdowns.
It was a gutsy performance by a team in a hostile environment against a squad with a proud coach smacking his lips for revenge after the Commodores punched them in the mouth two years running.
But it still wasn’t enough.
And now, the Commodores (2-6, 0-5) are just about dead in the water this season after a tough defeat that stung due to its closeness.
Smith drove Vanderbilt down to the South Carolina 25-yard line in the closing minutes before a missed pass and an intentional grounding penalty forced a fourth-and-32 that he didn’t come close to converting.
“We had a chance to win the ball game in the fourth quarter,” said Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson. “We just didn’t make it happen right there in that last drive. ”
This was the best they had played in weeks. Smith looked good early, and he finished with the best passing numbers of his SEC career against a very good South Carolina defense.
The offense still only put up a grand total of three points, despite two trips inside the Gamecock 10-yard line. One trip ended with a dropped pass in the end zone and a missed 26-yard field goal by Ryan Fowler, and another in the third quarter netted just a 21-yard field goal after Vanderbilt froze up by the goal line.
“We were pleased to move [the football well] but we wanted to get it in the end zone,” Johnson said. “That was disappointing. That would have been a very big psychological lift for us.”
What could have been a backbreaking touchdown became a small victory for the home team.
The Gamecocks (6-2, 3-2) made the Commodores pay for their red zone struggles at the beginning of the fourth quarter, when the normally surefire Vanderbilt secondary faltered on a critical drive.
Backed up on their 1-yard line after a terrific special teams play by Udom Umoh, the Gamecocks came out firing and found the end zone in just over two minutes.
Garcia went deep and found Tori Gurley for a highlight-worthy one-handed catch over senior cornerback Myron Lewis for 43 yards. Then, on third-and-20, Alshon Jeffery got open on a post and Garcia hit him in stride for a 43-yard touchdown and the winning points.
“We had them pinned, we had them right where we wanted them,” said redshirt senior defensive end Broderick Stewart. “Give credit to the South Carolina wide receiver, he made a good play on the ball, but we know better than that as a defense. We gave up too many big plays.”
The Commodores went three-and-out twice in a row before their last-ditch drive, once again, came up short. The offensive line melted down on Vanderbilt's final two plays, allowing the South Carolina pass rush to force Smith into a grounding and that unmanageable fourth down.
“We’ve got to eliminate the big plays,” said senior linebacker Brent Trice. “That’s what hurt us, the big play.”
And the inability to make their own when it counted.
It always seems to be something this season. And for the no-nonsense Johnson, it hasn’t been a case of not getting lucky.
Winning teams don’t get lucky.
“We fought hard,” Johnson said. “You make your own breaks. You got first and 10 at the 25, you go ahead and score. You make those breaks. They don’t just happen.”
