USC 'happy to get out alive'

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- By South Carolina's recent standards in the Vanderbilt series, this qualified as a blowout.

Steve Spurrier and the 19th-ranked Gamecocks gladly shuffled out of Vanderbilt Stadium on Saturday night with a 21-7 victory in front of 33,425 fans. Spurrier could be heard in the visitors' locker room, laughing and joking with his players after the team's first SEC road victory since October 2008.

Counting blowing an 18-point halftime lead at Kentucky last week, the Gamecocks had lost seven conference games in a row away from home.

"We're happy to get out of Vandy alive," Spurrier said. "We didn't get out two years ago."

The Gamecocks also lost to Vanderbilt in 2007, and they squeaked out a

14-10 victory last season at Williams-Brice Stadium.

Saturday's meeting was headed down a similar path until Alshon Jeffery streaked down the USC sideline for a 72-yard touchdown with 6:41 to play. That pushed the lead to two touchdowns.

"Vandy plays us tough all the time," Spurrier said. "It's always a struggle against these guys."

Struggle or not, the win keeps the Gamecocks (5-2, 3-2 SEC) on top of the SEC East for another week -- ahead of 3-3 Georgia and 2-3 Florida. Things are such a mess in the division that the Commodores (2-5, 1-3) would have led the East if they had won.

"Shoulda, woulda, coulda," said Vandy coach Robbie Caldwell. "There's no excuses."

Without USC freshman Marcus Lattimore, who sat out with an ankle injury, the search was on for playmakers. Jeffery, who had nine catches for 158 yards, was an obvious choice.

But so was sophomore receiver Tori Gurley, who made 13 catches for 109 yards and an important 15-yard touchdown reception just before halftime.

It was USC's only points in the first half, tying the game at seven at the break.

Without Lattimore, the Gamecocks struggled to get the running game going early. They had 10 total rushing yards at halftime, hurt by four sacks and a 24-yard loss on a bad snap by T.J. Johnson. Late in the first half, and certainly in the second half, senior Brian Maddox emerged as the man to fill in for Lattimore.

Despite the fact sophomore Kenny Miles started, Maddox responded with 146 yards -- 123 of which came in the second half. Maddox's 2-yard touchdown run -- on a drive in which he carried the ball seven times for 48 yards -- put the Gamecocks ahead for good with 3:17 remaining in the third.

"Without Marcus, it was probably a little questionable whether we could run the ball," USC junior quarterback Stephen Garcia said. "Brian came in and played a great game."

For the first time in school history, the Gamecocks had a 100-yard rusher and two 100-yard receivers.

Garcia finished with a better game than even he or Spurrier thought. Both were surprised afterward to hear his final line -- 31 of 39 for 355 yards and two touchdowns.

"Is that what it was?" asked Garcia, who was over 300 yards for the second straight week. "I didn't even know I threw the ball that much. That's pretty cool."

Often, with Vanderbilt blitzing from the edges and dropping linemen into coverage, the Gamecocks threw quick passes toward the sideline. That's where the bulk of Gurley's catches came. Freshman Ace Sanders, who had five catches for 54 yards, was also open quite a bit in the flat.

Vanderbilt's pressure frustrated Garcia and the Gamecocks in the first half, but Garcia said USC learned how to pick it up in the final two quarters. That seemed obvious, given the fact he wasn't sacked in the second half.

As for the Gamecocks' defense, which was porous in the second half a week ago at Kentucky, it really picked things up after halftime. The Commodores had just 70 total yards and three first downs in the second half. They finished with 250 yards in the game.

Defensive tackle Travian Robertson, who had a team-leading seven tackles, said the Gamecocks didn't really alter the gameplan in the second half.

"We just started tackling," he said.

All told, Saturday was essentially the reverse story of the implosion in Lexington. The Gamecocks got better as the game went along here, closing it out with the scramble play in which Garcia rolled right and saw Jeffery in one-on-one coverage.

He lobbed the ball over the defender's head, and Jeffery took off for the score. Spurrier called the improvisation by Garcia "a thing of beauty."

"Shoot, we're happy," Spurrier said. "We actually played well the second half. We need to try and continue that if we have a chance to have a big year."