Oct. 21, 2006

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South Carolina at Vanderbilt Post-Game Notes

• South Carolina entered Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt riding a school-record four-game winning streak in SEC road games. Dating back to the 2004 season, the Gamecocks have compiled a 7-3 record in their last 10 road games entering Saturday’s game.
• South Carolina’s game captains for Saturday’s contest were Fred Bennett, Ike Crofoot and Chris White. South Carolina won the coin toss and elected to kick off, marking only the second time since Steve Spurrier took over as coach that the Gamecocks did not receive the opening kick. The only other time was against Alabama in 2005, when Carolina won the toss and deferred.
• Freshman receiver Freddie Brown made his first career start in Saturday’s game. In doing so, he became the ninth different freshman (true or redshirt) to start for the Gamecocks this year. The other eight to start were TE Jared Cook, LT Hutch Eckerson, RG Garrett Anderson, RB Taylor Rank, WR Moe Brown, ROV Emanuel Cook, LB Rodney Paulk and CB Captain Munnerlyn.
• Freshman rover Emanuel Cook returned to the lineup for Saturday’s game after missing the last three games with a left knee injury. Though he did not start, Cook entered Saturday’s contest on the second play of the game and saw the majority of the action at rover.
• Vanderbilt struck first when kicker Brian Hahnfeldt nailed a 25-yard field goal to cap a 12-play, 66-yard drive at the 5:20 mark of the first quarter. Entering Saturday’s game, South Carolina was 0-5 when allowing an SEC opponent to score first under Steve Spurrier.
• Ryan Succop blasted a 55-yard field goal to open the second quarter. His successful try marked a career long and was the second-longest field goal in school history. The longest in school history was a 58-yard boot by Mark Fleetwood against Georgia in 1982.
• Carlos Thomas picked off his first pass of the season early in the second quarter, marking the second interception of his career. His first pick came at Georgia last year.
• Syvelle Newton hooked up with Sidney Rice for a 2-yard touchdown pass with 9:30 remaining in the second quarter. The score marked the sixth time this season that the two players have connected for a touchdown pass. Rice’s score gave him his 19th career touchdown catch, matching him with Robert Brooks and Jermale Kelly for the school record. Both Brooks and Kelly played four years at Carolina, while Rice has accomplished the feat in slightly more than 1 ½ season.
• Including his second-quarter touchdown reception, Sidney Rice has six touchdown receptions on the year, tying him with Fred Zeigler (1968) and Robert Brooks (1990) for ninth place on the South Carolina single-season touchdown receptions list. Rice set the school record with 13 touchdown catches in 2005.
• Syvelle Newton found Kenny McKinley for a 23-yard touchdown with 5:34 remaining in the second quarter. The connection marked McKinley’s second touchdown catch of the year and was the third of his career. It also marked Newton’s 10th touchdown pass of the year, putting him two touchdowns away from cracking into South Carolina’s single-season top-10 for touchdown passes.
• The Gamecocks took a 17-10 lead into the locker room at halftime. Carolina entered Saturday’s game with a 4-0 record when leading at the half this year.
• On the first play from scrimmage of the second half, Sidney Rice made a 15-yard reception, marking the 100th reception of his career. In reaching that milestone, Rice becomes the 10th player in school history to reach the 100-reception plateau and the first since Ryan Brewer (1999-02).
• Syvelle Newton punched in a seven-yard touchdown run with 6:02 remaining in the third quarter, marking his second rushing touchdown in as many games and the 29th touchdown that he has been responsible for during his career (18 passing, 9 rushing, 2 receiving).
• Mike Davis took a draw and ran 15 yards for a touchdown with 14:50 remaining in the game, marking the longest touchdown run of his career.
• Captain Munnerlyn recorded the first interception of his career when he picked off a Chris Nickson pass with 14:15 remaining in the game.
• South Carolina Head Coach Steve Spurrier came into Saturday’s game with a perfect 13-0 record in games played against Vanderbilt, matching his mark against Kentucky as his best record against any opponent.
• The Gamecocks entered Saturday’s game riding a six-game winning streak in games played against Vanderbilt. The Commodores’ last win over Carolina was an 11-10 victory at Williams-Brice Stadium as part of the Gamecocks’ winless 1999 season.
• South Carolina entered Saturday’s game with a 13-2 all-time record against Vanderbilt. Vandy’s lone victories in the series came in 1998 and 1999. The Gamecocks entered Saturday with a 7-1 record in games played against Vanderbilt in Nashville.
• A South Carolina victory over Vanderbilt would give the Gamecocks five wins on the season with five games remaining.
• Following Saturday’s game, the Gamecocks could very likely play four of their last five games against teams ranked in the top 10 nationally. South Carolina finishes the season with games against No. 7 Tennessee, No. 15 Arkansas, No. 9 Florida, Middle Tennessee State and No. 12 Clemson.
• South Carolina entered Saturday’s game ranking 18th nationally in scoring defense, limiting the opposition to 14.2 points per game.