GAME NOTES: The 24th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks are set to do battle with the Vanderbilt Commodores in the SEC opener for both teams this Thursday.

South Carolina was completely dominant in a 34-0 romp over NC State to open the season, and a national television audience likely came away impressed by the effort of Steve Spurrier's squad. Considering that South Carolina opened last season with a 6-1 record and then went winless the rest of the year, the resounding romp over the Wolfpack was good to see.

As for the Commodores, they opened this new season on the road with a 34-13 romp over Miami-Ohio. Head coach Bobby Johnson has not had much success against conference foes during his tenure, but a win against the Gamecocks would spark some optimism. Vandy is just 4-21 in 25 SEC openers, and the last win came in 2005.

The Gamecocks own a 14-3 series lead over the Commodores, but Vandy won last season's meeting by a 17-6 final.

South Carolina's first-time starting quarterback Tommy Beecher threw four interceptions for against NC State. Chris Smelley came in after Beecher sustained an injury, and Smelley was much more effective under center. He completed all five of his pass attempts for 92 yards with a pair of touchdowns and no interceptions. Smelley has been named the starter for this clash with Vandy, and while Beecher's shoulder is still banged up from last week, leaving his status doubtful, it wouldn't be surprising to see Spurrier go with the hot hand even if both were healthy. Tailback Mike Davis ran for 101 yards in the victory, exhibiting a strong combination of speed and power.

"Defensively Vandy's a very good team," said Spurrier when asked to talk about this week's opponent. "We've got to execute, protect the quarterback run and everything. We're looking forward to see if we can improve."

It is hard to imagine South Carolina playing any better defensively than it did in the opener. After all, the Gamecocks limited their foes to 138 total yards en route to the shutout victory. The run defense was superb, as NC State finished with 89 yards on 37 carries. Still, the Gamecocks' play against the pass was even more impressive, as the Wolfpack totaled 49 yards on 5-of-20 completions with two interceptions. South Carolina had five sacks and four takeaways in the contest. NC State was only able to keep possession of the ball for 25 minutes and was 4-of-14 on third down conversion attempts.

After the game, defensive standout Eric Norwood was obviously excited. "All of the hard work we did during camp helped with the conditioning for tonight. I hope this game sets the tone and shows what we're capable of doing. It feels good to win again."

Vanderbilt got a tremendous performance from quarterback Chris Nickson in the season-opening victory over Miami-Ohio, as he ran for 166 yards and two touchdowns on 20 rushing attempts. As a passer, Nickson completed 9-of-16 passes for 91 yards and a score, and he was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week. The Commodores were 8-of-15 on third down conversion attempts. They did lose a pair of fumbles in the clash but certainly played well overall.

Reshard Langford, Vandy's senior linebacker, reflected on the win over Miami- Ohio and was quick to mentioned the leader of the offense. "It was a good win for us as a team. Chris Nickson is back and it is going to give us a lot more confidence going into next week playing South Carolina."

Defensively, Vandy limited Miami-Ohio to 340 total yards. The run defense was superb, holding the RedHawks to 96 yards. Equally impressive was the fact that the 'Dores came up with three interceptions and permitted fewer than half of the passes that Miami attempted to be completed.

To the surprise of absolutely no one that has watched Vanderbilt games, defensive back D.J. Moore was tremendous. He posted a sack and also intercepted a pass, showing off his tremendous versatility. Coach Johnson raved about his standout defensive after the contest. "He is fantastic. He is in great shape and put in a lot of good work over the summer. I'm always asking him `are you tired do you need out?' and he just smiles and shakes his head."

Expect this contest to be competitive from start to finish. South Carolina is the better team in this matchup, but the Commodores have the advantage of playing at home and won last year's meeting. Expect Nickson to get the job done with his arm and his legs. Still, give a narrow edge to the Gamecocks.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: South Carolina 24, Vanderbilt 20