SEC Power Rankings: Alabama Pulls Away (For Now) After Big Win Over the Aggies

Sep 14, 2013; Columbia, SC, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback

(14) celebrates a touchdown by a teammate against the Vanderbilt Commodores in the first quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

5. South Carolina Gamecocks

Record: 2-1 (1-1)

Previous Ranking: 5 (Trend: –)

Last Week: South Carolina 35, Vanderbilt 25

This Week: Bye

Next Week: at UCF

South Carolina got the production they needed from defensive players not named Jadeveon Clowney, and it resulted in a strong win over Vanderbilt.

Things now really open up now for South Carolina. Between now and the Gamecocks season finale against Clemson, USC has only two games that could pose a problem. The first is at Missouri and the other is a home game against Florida.

For reasons explained earlier, Florida is a very beatable team at the moment. Assuming their quarterback play doesn’t chance, South Carolina should be able to win that game.

Missouri could be a sneaky problem for South Carolina in that the Tigers have the skill position players to beat USC’s defense. Clowney is going to have to be factor in that game if South Carolina wants to come out with a win. Otherwise, the game will be in Connor Shaw’s hands with the challenge to try to outscore Missouri.