Vanderbilt football vs. South Carolina: Score prediction, scouting report in SEC Week 11

Vanderbilt football's futility against South Carolina has made it the longest active losing streak for the Commodores against an SEC East opponent.

Vanderbilt (2-8, 0-6 SEC) will look to not only break its eight-game losing streak this season but also a 14-game losing streak to the Gamecocks (3-6, 1-5) on Saturday (11 a.m. CT, SEC Network) at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Commodores have not beaten South Carolina since 2008, when Bobby Johnson was coach.

There have been a few close games in the series, most notably a 21-20 loss in 2021, the last time Vanderbilt visited Columbia.

More: Watch Vanderbilt football vs. South Carolina live on Fubo (free trial)

Ken Seals will start again at quarterback, coach Clark Lea confirmed. Walter Taylor and AJ Swann will also both be available. CJ Taylor will be questionable due to an injury, while De'Marion Thomas is doubtful.

Here's what to know about the matchup:

Clark Lea has regrets from previous South Carolina loss

Lea still thinks about the 2021 matchup that extended the losing streak. The Commodores led by six with 1:36 remaining and South Carolina out of timeouts. But the Gamecocks drove 75 yards with no timeouts to win by one.

Sometimes, Lea questions the decision to kick a field goal instead of going for a fourth down on the preceding drive. He also looks back on the decision to send only three rushers for South Carolina's final drive, allowing the quarterback ample time to throw.

"We had a lot of three-man rush there, through the kind of middle of their drive where we gave them time and they were able to find space," Lea said Tuesday. "In that situation ... you have to force them to churn clock and to use the time to put pressure on and when you let them out with explosive plays in that scenario, you're really putting yourself behind the ball. So some tactical things would have changed."

Vanderbilt, South Carolina rushing struggles

Vanderbilt and South Carolina are two of the worst rushing offenses in the SEC. The Gamecocks are last in the conference in both rushing yards per attempt and game; the Commodores are 12th and 13th in those stats, respectively. Vanderbilt and South Carolina also rank 13th and 14th in the SEC in run plays of 10 yards or more. Meanwhile, the Commodores are the only team in the SEC to not have a run play of 50 yards or longer, and the Gamecocks also rank last in the conference at allowing tackles for loss.

Vanderbilt has been able to find a few solutions to open up the run game. Both utilizing designed quarterback runs more with Seals and Taylor, and incorporating freshman AJ Newberry at running back, have led to a slight improvement in rushing. Regardless, it's likely that both teams will lean on the pass.

Can Vanderbilt stop Spencer Rattler?

South Carolina runs a high portion of its offense through Spencer Rattler. The former five-star recruit puts up the third-most passing yards per game in the SEC with the fourth-highest completion percentage. He's also not afraid to throw downfield, as his 13 passes of 40 yards or more ties for the league lead.

Vanderbilt allowed too many big plays against Auburn, albeit most of them in the run game, and the Commodores will need to tamp that down to defeat the Gamecocks.

Vanderbilt vs. South Carolina score prediction

Vanderbilt 24, South Carolina 21: The Commodores break the losing streak in a low-scoring matchup thanks to South Carolina's inability to run the ball.

NIL AND PORTAL Why Clark Lea sees increased usage of NIL, transfer portal in Vanderbilt football's future

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.

Get the latest news and insight on SEC football by subscribing to the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt football score prediction vs. South Carolina in Week 11