GAME NOTES: The 23rd-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks are clearly favored in Saturday's SEC clash with the Vanderbilt Commodores, who seem to be the worst team in the conference.

Last season, Vanderbilt surprised many fans and analysts with a 6-6 finish, including 4-4 versus SEC competition. Rather than build on that success, the Commodores have fallen back to the conference basement, as they are 2-5 overall and 0-4 in league action. The last three outings have resulted in defeat, including a 34-10 setback against Georgia last weekend. The fact that the Commodores have failed to score more than 13 points in any of the five losses suggests that there are major problems offensively.

As for South Carolina, it suffered its second loss of the season last weekend, a 20-6 setback to an Alabama team that has taken over the top spot in the AP poll. The Gamecocks did carry a four-game win streak into that tilt, and they are now 5-2 overall and 2-2 in conference. One more victory would earn the squad bowl eligibility, but Steve Spurrier is undoubtedly disappointed that his team is seemingly out of the mix for the SEC title.

Vanderbilt is averaging 17.6 ppg this season to go along with 330.1 total ypg, numbers that aren't going to scare South Carolina at all. The Commodores have actually run the ball well, as they have gained 179.6 ypg at a clip of 4.3 ypc with 10 touchdowns. The passing game has been a different story, however, as Larry Smith has completed only 45.8 percent of his passes for 967 yards and three touchdowns with seven interceptions. Tailback Warren Norman leads the ground attack with 450 yards and three touchdowns, and there are several other backs who have made positive contributions in the running game.

While the Vanderbilt offense has struggled, the team's defense has played quite well, limiting opponents to 18.3 ppg and 304.1 total ypg. The Commodores have been particularly tough against the pass, holding opponents to 9.5 yards per completion with six touchdowns against nine interceptions. Chris Marve leads Vandy with 65 total tackles, and Myron Lewis has three interceptions. Only 33 percent of third down conversion attempts have been successful against the 'Dores.

Last week, Vandy managed only 296 yards en route to 10 points against Georgia. The Commodores posted one touchdown, a five-yard toss from Smith to Brandon Barden that capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive. Aside from that drive and score, there wasn't much to cheer about.

"Larry took a lot of hits," said Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson of his quarterback. "We didn't protect him as well as we wanted to. He was running for his life out there, even when he didn't get sacked."

Johnson did say that Smith will remain as the team's starting quarterback.

Defensively, the Commodores gave up 399 yards and four touchdowns to the Georgia offense. Vandy struggled against both the run and the pass in the ball game.

"We were trying to be more aggressive," said linebacker John Stokes after the loss. "I really don?t know exactly what happened, but we certainly didn't stop them like I think we are capable of, or like we needed to."

Before the game against Alabama, South Carolina had scored a total of 66 points in its previous two outings. Unfortunately, the Gamecocks couldn't get anything going offensively against arguably the nation's best defensive team. South Carolina finished with 278 total yards, including 64 rushing yards on 27 attempts. The Gamecocks turned the ball over twice, including one interception by Stephen Garcia, who was 20-of-46 for 214 yards. He was sacked five times in the tilt, and that lone interception was returned for a touchdown.

"We knew what they were going to do, just didn't capitalize on alot of things," said Garcia after the loss.

Considering the fact that South Carolina surrendered just one touchdown to the Alabama offense, the Gamecock defense deserves a great deal of credit. The unit did permit 356 total yards, including 264 rushing yards on nearly seven yards per attempt. Still, superb play against the pass kept the score close, and two interceptions helped the cause.

"We should have put one in the end zone, just like they did," said South Carolina star defender Eric Norwood, disappointed that the defense couldn't score on one of its takeaways.

Overall this season, South Carolina is scoring 24.3 ppg to go along with 357.1 total ypg. Garcia, who is surrounded by mediocre playmakers by SEC standards, has completed 57.6 percent of his passes for 1,482 yards and nine touchdowns with only four interceptions. The quarterback has a sore knee, but he is expected to be on the field this weekend. Moe Brown leads the receivers with 22 grabs.

The fact that South Carolina is only allowing 18.6 ppg and 291.1 total ypg speaks to the strength of the defense. With 15 sacks and 14 takeaways, the Gamecocks have made a fair number of big plays. Norwood is the program's all- time sacks leader, and he has six to his credit this year. The big man is tied for the team lead with 44 tackles and has blocked a pair of kicks, proving to be one of the nation's truly elite defenders.

The Gamecocks have the edge this week, as they are simply a better team than the Commodores. Don't be surprised if Vandy is held out of the end zone.