Before the past 2 weeks, Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt appeared to be a very manageable win. Then Vanderbilt upset Missouri heading into a bye week, and South Carolina fell to Florida and Tennessee to stop any momentum the Gamecocks had following the Georgia upset win.

If there’s anything to be said about this series, it’s South Carolina’s dominance. The Gamecocks have won 10 in a row, their longest winning streak in the series, and 17 of the past 19 against Vandy. From a wider view, coach Will Muschamp is 7-1 against the Commodores, while Derek Mason is 0-5 against the Gamecocks.

Here are 5 things I want to see Saturday:

Add an offensive wrinkle with Dakereon Joyner

It wasn’t done by design at Georgia but rather necessity, but inserting Joyner at quarterback for at least a few plays should do something for the offense as he’s proven he can move the ball. Perhaps a trick play to hit Shi Smith or Bryan Edwards over the top with Joyner in the backfield or in motion, even with Ryan Hilinski on the field, keeps the defense honest. The Gamecocks need a spark and now have their most versatile weapon healthy for the first time in weeks following a hamstring injury.

“We’re going to do what’s best for the football team and what’s best for the young man,” Muschamp said. “And I think Dakereon is probably as healthy as he’s been in the last 2 or 3 weeks, going into this game. And certainly can, you know, help our football team in some form or fashion. And, but again, we’re going to put the best guy out there that gives us an opportunity to win the game.”

Bottle up the Vandy playmakers

It’s no secret who Vandy’s best players are, but the Commodores have stumbled partly because they haven’t gotten them the ball much. If that continues, South Carolina has a good chance to win as these are NFL-caliber players.

RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn has 703 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns, which is 2nd in the SEC on a per-game basis.

“I think they’ve got one of the best running backs in the country,” Muschamp said. “Ke’Shawn Vaughn is a guy that’s got a big lower body, he’s on his way to another 1,000-yard season. But he really makes them go offensively. We’ve got a lot of respect for him. Kalija Lipscomb, a receiver, has been a difficult guy to cover. You know, the last, you know, three years we’ve played him he’s been there for a while, seems like. But really good football player. Jared Pinkney, at tight end from Norcross, Georgia is a guy that we recruited and we got a lot of respect for him.”

They need to hold a 2nd-half lead

Three blown leads in the 2nd half against North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee tell the story of this season, and Muschamp has said turnovers play a vital role in that area.

Muschamp noted that the Gamecocks have had 10 turnovers against Power 5 opponents this year, and 7 have been in the 2nd half. There have also been 6 possessions end on downs as the team couldn’t convert on 4th down.

“We’ve been ineffective consistently throwing the football,” Muschamp said, pointing to protection, route running, accuracy with the football and field position. “It’s not one thing, it’s multiple things. We’re trying to correct, we’re trying to get it right. Thought we got off on the right start on the first play of the game last week, and felt like there were some things that we did do positive as far as those things are concerned. I’d point to some youth in some key areas. Just call it like it is. I mean, it’s hard what I’m asking some of these guys to do. … You look at the last 2nd half and the 3rd quarter against Tennessee, 3 possessions we self-inflict, you know, 5-yard penalties, a delay of game, and 2 false starts. And right now when you’re not creating explosive plays, they’re hard to overcome those.”

An improved pass defense

It was well-documented how Jauan Jennings and Marquez Callaway victimized the South Carolina defense, but it continued a brief trend with the Florida game after the remarkable effort against Georgia. That left the Gamecocks 13th in the SEC in pass defense. They gave up 551 yards the past 2 weeks combined.

“We had some balls down the field that we got to get, find a way to get the ball on the ground in a situation,” Muschamp said of the Tennessee game. “We got in a bad matchup in a man-to-man that we did not want to have happen. In the heat of the moment, we didn’t get in the right matchup that we needed to get in the right matchup, that we had game planned going into the game. So there were several errors that were not all one thing. There were several things on different plays that we can certainly coach better in those situations.”

Shi Smith keep it going

WR Bryan Edwards’ sensational catch at Tennessee might be the most notable thing to remember about the game, but his sidekick, WR Shi Smith, also had a banner day.

Smith had career day against Tennessee, with 11 catches for 156 yards, including the 75-yard touchdown pass to open the game, which was the longest reception of his career. The 11 receptions tied for the 9th-most in a single game in school history.

The Gamecocks need more from Smith, who still has just 2 touchdown catches. He’s had fewer than 4 catches in 4 games.