| Nashville Tennessean
Vanderbilt completed an exhausted squad with costly mistakes en route to the 41-7 loss to South Carolina on Saturday, his 12th consecutive loss in the series.
Commodores (0-3) were already very poorly manned due to COVID-19 injuries and quarantines. They missed a chip-shot field goal and missed a fake punt. South Carolina (1-2) converted enough errors into scores to extend their winning streak in the series.
Vanderbilt has not beaten South Carolina since 2008. Only Alabama, with 13 consecutive wins, has a longer winning streak against Commodores among SEC teams.
Freshman quarterback Ken Seals had 16 of 23 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown pass for Cam Johnson, a former Brentwood Academy standout. But Vanderbilt gained only 249 yards in total attack.
Cornerback Jaylen Mahoney, who lost last week’s game against LSU due to an injury, had a career record of 10 tackles, including two by defeat. But Vanderbilt’s defense allowed South Carolina to score in the first five attempts in the second half.
Here are five more things we learned from the loss of Vanderbilt:
Insufficient players to play
Vanderbilt accommodated only 56 stock market players because of COVID-19’s quarantines and injuries, just enough to meet the SEC’s minimum requirements to play a game this season during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to SEC policy, a team must have at least 53 stock market players available to avoid cancellation, rescheduling or a non-competition statement.
Coach Derek Mason declined to specify how many players were out of COVID-19 injuries or quarantines. But he acknowledged that COVID-19 contact tracking was responsible for some of the absences. Mason said he learned on Thursday afternoon that his list would run out.
Among Vanderbilt’s most notable absences were running back Ja’Veon Marlow, linebacker Alston Orji, safety Dashaun Jerkins, safety / kick returner Donovan Kaufman and cornerback Randall Haynie.
Failures in Vanderbilt’s fourth descent have changed at the moment
Vanderbilt missed a fourth down near the goal line, and South Carolina scored in a fourth and a goal in the next attack. That six-minute run in the second quarter changed the tide of the game with a possible 14-point fluctuation.
The Seals’ 33-yard pass to Amir Abdur-Rahman put Vanderbilt on the 11-yard line. But in the quarter for 2 of 3, the Seals were fired during the launch.
South Carolina then marched 96 yards in 12 plays and scored a touchdown on the defender for Collin Hill. Before the pair of fourth down games, Gamecocks led 3-0 and were in danger of losing the lead. But they increased their lead to 10-0.
Vanderbilt’s placekick problems worsened
Did Vanderbilt attempt a field goal instead of the fourth down? That seemed less likely after Pierson Cooke lost a 29-yard field goal in his previous possession, wasting a 64-yard stroke to 11.
Cooke, a walk-on, is 1-to-4 in goals this season, including a 22-yard failure against LSU a week ago. He won the post of substitute for the 2018 signer Javan Rice, after the Columbia transfer from Oren Milstein chose to leave the season due to concerns about COVID-19.
The fake punt quickly became expensive
In the third quarter, Vanderbilt failed to convert into a fake punt in the fourth and 5 of his own 31. The ball was hit for upback Mitchell Pryor, who passed to receiver Elijah Hamilton in a submission. Hamilton was stopped 3 yards before the first descent marker in a slow development move.
Two moves later, Kevin Harris of South Carolina broke a 25-yard run for a touchdown, increasing the Gamecocks’ lead to 17-0.
More clippings, fewer students, no other fans
For the second week in a row, Vanderbilt allowed only students to watch the game. They are tested weekly for COVID-19. In a constant rain, only about 200 students, cheerleaders and band members showed up.
In the past two weeks, Mason said attendance policy would “increase” to perhaps include fans in addition to students. But no other fans or even members of the player’s family have been admitted to Vanderbilt Stadium because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Some new cardboard cutouts have been added to the stands in midfield, like former Vanderbilt pitcher David Price and comedian Nate Bargatze, a Commodores fan.
Talk to Adam Sparks at [email protected] and Twitter @AdamSparks.