USC ready to end slide against Vandy

By Pete Iacobelli - The Associated Press

COLUMBIA -- Ladi Adjiboye saw South Carolina's fade coming two years ago, even if few others did.

Adjiboye was a promising freshman defensive tackle on the 2007 Gamecocks, who started 6-1 and rose to No. 6 in the country. Coach Steve Spurrier looked like he had delivered on his promise to turn middle-of-the-pack USC into Southeastern Conference contenders.

The Gamecocks were double-digit favorites in their next game against Vanderbilt, but came out flat. They lost 17-6 and did not win another game that year.

“I think that ranking really got to some of our players' heads” two years ago, Adjiboye said. “We didn't practice as hard. We felt like that game was supposed to be won, instead of earned.”

Now, the 23rd-ranked Gamecocks (5-2, 2-2 SEC) are again highly favored to defeat the Commodores (2-5, 0-4) at home and Adjiboye said the team is on much higher alert for tonight's game, ready to show they've come a long way since that loss.

“I feel like, this has got to be the game we step up and become new Carolina,” he said.

Two years ago at Williams-Brice Stadium, the Commodores defeated their highest ranked foe in 70 years and ended Spurrier's 14-0 career mark against the school he likes to call, “Vandy.”

To prove it wasn't a fluke, they did it again in 2008, handing the ranked Gamecocks to a 24-17 defeat.

Spurrier is telling anyone who will listen that USC is closer in talent and stature to Vanderbilt and Kentucky, long considered SEC football doormats, than to league powers Florida, Alabama and LSU.

One play here or there, Spurrier says, and close victories over Ole Miss and Kentucky this season become losses. The Gamecocks aren't yet good enough — and haven't been for much of Spurrier's five seasons — to show up and dominate opponents.

“I know you guys think I can control everything that happens out there,” Spurrier said. “But it just doesn't happen that way.”

If he could, he surely wouldn't have allowed USC's last two flops against Vanderbilt

In 2007, Vanderbilt broke out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter and its defense took over the rest of the way. USC quarterback Chris Smelley was intercepted twice. He and replacement Blake Mitchell were sacked seven times. Spurrier's offense was held under 200 yards and the Head Ball Coach commented after that it wouldn't have mattered who played quarterback.

Then last year, the Commodores overcame a 10-3 deficit and forced Smelley into two interceptions to pull out a 24-17 victory in what was a landmark season. Vanderbilt had its first winning record since 1982 and capped things with a 16-14 win over Boston College in the Music City Bowl — its first postseason victory in 53 years.

These Commodores, though, have taken a step back this season. They haven't scored more than 10 points in any of their four SEC defeats. They rank last in SEC scoring and 11th in total offense. Their best chance may have been sneaking up on the Gamecocks — an impossibility, Adjiboye says, given USC's long memories of the past two defeats.

“I don't see anybody's head down,” he said. “That's a different thing to see since I've been here.”

Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson says his players aren't hanging their heads, either.

The Columbia native would love another moment like that sun-splashed victory two years ago in front of several friends and mentors, including former Furman and N.C. State coach Dick Sheridan. First, though, he simply hopes to see a surge in effort and execution.

“I think it's pretty obvious what our job is for this week,” Johnson said. “We have to pick ourselves up off the turf and get back to work and see if we can improve as a football team.”

Spurrier hopes USC has, too, since its last two losses to Vanderbilt. He likes what he's watched so far — the Gamecocks are fourth overall in SEC defense and have improved in scoring and rushing this season — and hopes it won't slacken down the stretch.

“We have to play hard and play with a lot of courage and effort and smarts,” Spurrier said. “If we can do that, I'll be happy with our team.”