NASHVILLE, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Marcus Lattimore scored on a 1-yard run with 11:25 to play Thursday, allowing No. 9 South Carolina to survive a scare and defeat Vanderbilt 17-13.
The Gamecocks and Commodores played the highlight game of the evening on college football's opening night of the season and it almost turned into the year's first upset.
South Carolina turned the ball over twice in the opening 6 minutes, but still managed to take a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Vanderbilt then scored the next 13 points on a spectacular 78-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Rogers to Jordan Matthews and a pair of field goals by Carey Spear.
Spear's second kick, coming with 6:02 to go in the third period, gave the Commodores the lead and it appeared their defense might be able to hold on for a victory.
After Spear missed a field goal try with 1:20 to go in the third quarter, however, South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw led the Gamecocks 76 yards in nine plays to the winning touchdown.
Shaw hit Lattimore with two passes on the drive and then kept the ball himself for a 12-yard run to the Vanderbilt 1-yard line that set up the decisive score.
Vanderbilt's last chance ended when the Commodores ran out of downs on their own 38 with 1:55 to go.
Lattimore gained 109 yards on 23 carries while Shaw threw for 68 yards and ran for 97 more. Rogers completed 13-of-23 passes for 214 yards. Matthews had eight catches for 147 yards.
