Chance for atonement

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina has been so surprisingly and soundly beaten by Vanderbilt the past two seasons that Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier unintentionally invented a word Tuesday to describe the losses.

"They outplayed us the last two years. That's why they've beaten us. Simple as that," Spurrier said during his weekly news conference. "They've outplayed us, outcoached us, outhit us, outcourageoused us."

Outcourageoused? Wow.

While that didn't turn up in any searches on dictionary.com, the "word" certainly illustrates the simple idea that Vanderbilt has plainly been better than South Carolina in the teams' past two meetings.

The 23rd-ranked Gamecocks (5-2, 2-2 SEC) host the struggling Commodores (2-5, 0-4) on Saturday at 7 p.m. (ESPNU).

It's a chance for atonement for South Carolina.

"Every time we lose to them," junior defensive tackle Ladi Ajiboye said, "I feel like we go downhill."

Two years ago, the Gamecocks were 6-1 and ranked sixth in the country when they stubbed their toe against Vandy as double-digit home favorites. USC didn't win another game, and, at 6-6, missed out on a bowl trip.

Last season, in the second game, the Commodores roared past the Gamecocks on an ESPN Thursday night game. It wound up costing USC a potential eighth win, which would've matched the current regular season high under Spurrier.

Just like that, Spurrier's sterling career record against Vanderbilt was suddenly 14-2.

"If they outplay us Saturday night, chances are they'll beat us again," Spurrier said Monday.

But there's a certain awareness about Vanderbilt's sleeping-giant quality that wasn't present a year or two ago.

All the freshmen and younger players are being cautioned by veterans such as Ajiboye and fifth-year senior lineman Lem Jeanpierre that the Commodores aren't to be toyed with.

"They're going to play as hard against us as anybody will," Ajiboye said. "They're going to come for your head."

Spurrier has said this Commodores team isn't all that different from this year's Gamecocks: Strong defense and a struggling offense.

Vanderbilt is last in scoring offense (17.6 points a game) and second to last in total offense (330.1 yards a game). USC is 10th in scoring offense (24.3) and eighth in total offense (357.1).

Defensively, the Commodores are sixth in total defense (304.1), second in pass defense (133.6). South Carolina is fourth in total defense (291.1) and third in pass defense (142.6).

Vanderbilt's hanging on in the secondary, even though cornerback and South Carolina native D.J. Moore left early for the NFL and All-SEC candidate Ryan Hamilton is out for the season with an injury. Senior corner Myron Lewis leads that unit.

One thing that makes the secondary better is the Vanderbilt front seven, which Spurrier repeatedly credited Tuesday.

Fifth-year senior defensive end Broderick Stewart and senior outside linebacker Patrick Benoist have given the Gamecocks fits the past couple of years.

"I asked (line) coach (Eric) Wolford, 'Why are those guys so good in their defensive line?' " Spurrier said. "And he said, 'They're strong guys.' "

The reality is, this doesn't appear to be as strong a team as last year's Commodores, who won the school's first bowl game since the 1950s.

Their wins have come against Western Carolina and Rice, and they have a non-conference loss at Army to go with an 0-4 start in the league.

They've scored 29 points in four SEC games.

But no one in South Carolina's camp will be sleeping on Vanderbilt. Not when the Gamecocks haven't scored a win against the Commodores since 2006.

"They're a good team that you can't take lightly," Ajiboye said. "We took them lightly the past two years."

Reach Travis Haney at thaney@postandcourier.com and check out the South Carolina blog at www.postandcourier.com/weblogs/gamecocks.