Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. ó Chris Nickson threw for a touchdown and ran for another and Vanderbilt finally beat a ranked opponent on its own field Thursday night, upsetting No. 24 South Carolina 24-17 in the SEC opener for both teams.
Vanderbilt (2-0) had made it a habit of knocking off SEC teams on the road with victories at Arkansas and Tennessee in 2005, an upset of then-No. 22 Georgia in 2006 and a win over then-No. 6 South Carolina last October.
But the Commodores hadn’t upset a ranked team in Vanderbilt Stadium since Sept. 19, 1992.
This win was very sweet for Vanderbilt, which lost its first 14 games against Steve Spurrier as he coached Duke, Florida and South Carolina. Now the Commodores have won two straight against the ol’ ball coach.
The Commodores picked off two of Chris Smelley’s passes and sacked him four times, recovered a punt that bounced off a South Carolina player and blocked a field goal.
The Gamecocks dropped to 1-1 on the season.