Vanderbilt Coach Talks Preparing For South Carolina's Dominant Rush
The Vanderbilt Commodores offense has battled a lot already this season and stopping the South Carolina Gamecocks pass rush may be their toughest task yet.
In preparing for the game, Commodores head coach Clark Lea will have to make sure his team is ready to at least slow the Gamecocks down.
"You've got to find creative ways to make for space because if you are inefficient on early downs, and that is a little bit what got us against the Auburn Tigers. When we get behind the chains, if you [have to face this defense on] third and seven plus, you're going to have to deal with that edge pressure and they're really good at being disruptive at the launch point," said Lea when asked about how he plans to address the rush.
Vanderbilt has been above average at keeping Diego Pavia upright (at least in the pocket) this season. They currently rank tied for 27th in the country with 11 sacks allowed.
South Carolina ranks all the way at third in the country with 31 sacks in just eight games. They have also forced the most lost yardage on their sacks of any team.
It will be by far the toughest group that the Commodores offensive line has faced this season. The Texas Longhorns would be next up at No. 28 with 20 sacks in eight games.
The Vanderbilt line actually did not let Pavia get taken down by the Longhorns, but they did allow a season-high 15 pressures.
Gamecocks superstar freshman Dylan Stewart will likely present the toughest task on Saturday for the Commodores.
Stewart doesn't play his age has he has already logged 5.5 sacks and forced two fumbles. He leads South Carolina with 29 pressures so far this season.
He is impossible to stop and should be one of the biggest stars in the sport over the next few seasons.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets transfer and senior pass rusher Kyle Kennard actually leads the team in sacks, however, with seven, tied for fifth in the country.
Those two create the matchup nightmares on the edges while T.J. Sanders and Tonka Hemingway cause disruption up the middle.
The depth players that come in for brief spells aren't slouches either.
It will be an unrelenting group in the battle for time of possession that Vanderbilt normally likes to create.
Lea will have to make sure his players are up to the task moreso than they were against Texas.
Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders