Last season, the Vanderbilt Commodores traveled to South Carolina and did something the program had never done before. It beat South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier.
This Thursday, the Commodores (1-0) will go for another first: beat Spurrier in front of reporter Erin Andrews and ESPN. The nationally televised game, kicking off at 7:30 p.m. CT, will be a chance for Vanderbilt to win a game on ESPN's main network for the first time.
"It's great that ESPN is coming here, hopefully all of our students will be out there too," said Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson, a native of Columbia, SC. "The stadium looks fantastic right now - it should be a great atmosphere that's also great for our program. Hopefully we'll get a little exposure there."
No. 24 South Carolina (1-0) comes to Nashville after an impressive showing against North Carolina State. Despite throwing four interceptions on offense, the Gamecocks managed to put up 34 points on offense behind a 101-yard rushing performance from senior Mike Davis.
Spurrier has announced sophomore Chris Smelley will start at quarterback after week-one starter Tommy Beecher had a terrible outing, but if Smelley struggles, he could be quickly replaced.
"With Coach Spurrier, when you're playing against his offense, you're really preparing for him - not necessarily the quarterback," Johnson said. "All three of their quarterbacks can play in his system, otherwise they wouldn't be there. That's the way we look at it."
Combating the Gamecocks offense will be a talented Commodore secondary. The group that picked off three passes against Miami (Ohio) last week will be counted on for another strong effort.
"They (the Vanderbilt secondary) are going to be tested. South Carolina has excellent schemes and excellent receivers," Johnson said. "They can light you up, so we've got to beready to play, but that's the case every week. They'll (the secondary) be pumped up for this one."
According to Commodore redshirt senior receiver Sean Walker, the Vanderbilt secondary's contributions exceed the defensive side of the ball. Walker believes the receivers will be more than ready against the stingy Gamecock defense since the offense will spend its whole week preparing against Vanderbilt's first team defense.
"Honestly, not to say that the game is easier than practice, but I know going against guys like D.J. (Moore) and Myron (Lewis) that my release and technique are going to be on point," Walker said. "I know that releasing against those guys is like going against great players all the time, so we're all more ready because of it."
Walker and his fellow receivers will meet a secondary that absolutely dominated N.C. State last week. The Gamecocks allowed only 49 yards of passing during the entire game and added two interceptions. Johnson thinks of the leaders of the secondary, juniors Emmanuel Cook and Captain Munnerlyn, as two of the league's best.
"Emmanuel Cook might be one of the best tacklers I've ever seen in football. He does a form tackle every time - when people break through the line he's always got them on the ground," Johnson said. "He's tough. Captain is a great cover corner too. They've got some quality on defense."
Despite their hyped defense, however, Johnson is only concerned about another balanced, strong Commodore effort on Thursday night.
"We played hard most of the way against Miami, and if we continue to do that, we'll be fine. The competition is going to pick up - we're playing South Carolina on Thursday on ESPN," Johnson said. "We're excited about it and we're ready to go."
Sounds like the Vanderbilt faithful, Erin Andrews and a national television audience could be in for a hard-nosed game come Thursday night.
