By the time Vanderbilt running back Jamezell Lassiter streaked untouched down the right sideline, South Carolina’s student section was trickling out of Williams-Brice Stadium, stunned into silence.
The Gamecocks had earlier lost their Heisman hopeful quarterback. And by the end of the night in Columbia, S.C., they’d also just squandered their 16-year stranglehold on the Commodores.
Behind quarterback Diego Pavia’s steady hand and a bruising run game, which produced two rushing touchdowns, Vanderbilt — once the SEC’s perennial punching bag — dismantled No. 11 South Carolina, 31-7. It was Vanderbilt’s first win over the Gamecocks since 2008 and its first SEC opening win since 2011.
“It’s been growing,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said on the SEC Network after the game. “Obviously, we made some changes a year ago that, I think, changed the attitude of our program.”
And, fittingly, Saturday’s triumph marked Vanderbilt’s first road win over an AP Top-25 opponent since 2007 — in the same building, against then-No. 6 South Carolina.
Lea’s program seems unrecognizable. The Commodores are 3-0 for the first time since 2017, with back-to-back decisive road wins at Virginia Tech and South Carolina. They last won their first two road games in 2005, when Jay Cutler led them to victories at Wake Forest and Arkansas.
“Tonight’s about our team,” Lea said. “It’s a good South Carolina team, it’s an excellent environment. I’m really proud of them and I want the story to be about them.”
The night’s trajectory shifted late in the second quarter, when South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers absorbed a helmet-to-helmet hit from linebacker Langston Patterson. Sellers remained down for nearly a minute before walking to the sideline under his own power. Officials reviewed the hit and ejected Patterson for targeting, but the bigger blow was Sellers’ exit.
LaNorris Sellers had to be helped off the field after this hit.
The defender was called for targeting and ejected from the game. pic.twitter.com/obHOp93MIN
— ESPN (@espn) September 14, 2025
That left the Gamecocks in the hands of sixth-year senior Luke Doty. He moved the offense in spurts but never found a rhythm. Standout wide receiver Nyck Harbor was blanketed with double coverage, and the special teams magic from last week — when Vicari Swain returned two punts for touchdowns — never materialized.
Vanderbilt ensured Sellers’ absence stung. Hard.
Lassiter’s lone carry of the night, a 44-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter, increased the lead to 21-7 and silenced — and emptied — Williams-Brice.
Commodores kicker Brock Taylor drilled a 51-yard field goal, and Sedrick Alexander powered in a fourth-quarter touchdown to put the game out of reach. The 24-point margin was Vanderbilt’s second-largest win over a ranked opponent since a 34-point rout of No. 6 Kentucky in 1955.
One week after torching Virginia Tech with a 34-0 second-half run, Vanderbilt again commanded both lines of scrimmage and rewrote a rivalry that had been one-sided for nearly two decades.
“We do the right things the right way — that’s where confidence starts,” Lea said. “This has been a five-year build.”
(Photo of Diego Pavia: Jeff Blake / Imagn Images)
