NASHVILLE — South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer wondered how his Gamecocks would handle playing a ranked Southeastern Conference opponent on the road after upsetting Texas A&M 44-20 at home last week when the Aggies were No. 10.
He didn’t need to worry.
Raheim Sanders ran for 126 yards and two touchdowns, and he caught a 43-yard touchdown pass as South Carolina thumped No. 24 Vanderbilt 28-7 Saturday for the Gamecocks’ second straight win over an AP Top 25 team.
South Carolina (6-3, 4-3) is bowl eligible with the win, and Beamer said he was really proud of his team.
“This ain’t an easy place to play for a lot of reasons,” Beamer said. “Everyone thought there’d be a letdown coming off last week, and for our guys to come in here and know it’s going to be a tough gritty hard game just because of the way Vanderbilt plays football is really satisfying for us as a football team.”