A week after Georgia ruined Vanderbilt's homecoming on a last second field goal, sophomore cornerback D.J. Moore made sure his South Carolina homecoming wouldn't turn out the same way.

Moore, from nearby Spartanburg, S.C., recorded two of the Commodores' three interceptions as they stunned the sixth-ranked Gamecocks 17-6 Saturday in Columbia.

"It feels pretty good," Moore said about the victory. "Besides that they're number six in the nation, we're trying to get to a bowl game and we haven't been there in a while it's a big step towards that."

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier played his usual quarterback carousel, switching between starter Chris Smelley and senior Blake Mitchell, but both were pounded all day by a relentless pass rush that combined for seven sacks.

"We had a feeling if we got in his face a lot we could get him uncomfortable," said safety Ryan Hamilton of Smelley. "He doesn't like getting hit; if we could just get him unstable in the pocket, things were going to turn out good for us. That was our goal; we knew it would work too."

The game was over when, with just over two minutes remaining, South Carolina couldn't convert a fourth and one from its own 16-yard line, and the Commodores were able to run out the clock.

Vanderbilt raced out to a 17-0 first quarter lead, taking advantage of turnovers on the Gamecocks' first two possessions - a fumble forced by sophomore linebacker Patrick Benoist and Moore interception. From there, the Gamecocks moved the ball on several occasions, but they never reached the end zone.

"I didn't want their offense to get rolling and we did a pretty good job," said coach Bobby Johnson. "We got some turnovers and just kept them off-balance a little bit."

Moore said he knew after the first quarter the game was over because the South Carolina receivers weren't running hard. He said the defensive unit knew at that point all it had to do was stop the run, which in recent games had become a weakness.

It wasn't a weakness this time; the Commodores allowed only 26 yards on the ground.

Johnson, who is from Columbia, said the game plan called for bringing at least five defenders to pass rush 70 percent of plays.

"We try not to give their quarterbacks a chance to sit back there and read," Johnson said.

Linebacker Jonathan Goff added the team's third interception with just over 11 minutes remaining in the game.

"I was kind of anticipating the little check down to the running back, it seemed like they were doing that a lot all game," he said. "Our D-line was able to get pressure on the quarterback and force that bad throw and I was able to get there."

Not only was South Carolina the highest ranked team Vanderbilt had beaten since upsetting sixth-ranked Louisiana State in 1937, but also Spurrier had never lost to the Commodores in stints with three different teams.

Moore, however, wasn't fazed by Spurrier's impressive record.

"It's my second time playing him," he said. "We're 1-1, though, so we're pretty even."