Newton savors Gamecocks' win

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Syvelle Newton isn't interested in looking back to last year when he tore his left Achilles' tendon against Vanderbilt and didn't play again that season.

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He's too busy enjoying himself right now.

Newton threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third, and South Carolina beat Vanderbilt 31-13 on Saturday for the Gamecocks' fourth victory in five games since the senior took over as the starting quarterback.

"We had a lot of turnovers, a lot of silly penalties that could have killed us, could have really hurt us in the game," Newton said.

"Fortunately, we got a chance to win on the road once again, and it feels great. What happened last year was last year."

The victory kept South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier undefeated against the Commodores, and he's liking how Newton is playing.

"Syvelle is starting to throw the ball almost exactly where we want him to now. He is getting better and better," Spurrier said.

Spurrier now has won all 14 games he has coached against Vanderbilt (3-5, 1-4 Southeastern Conference) while at Duke, Florida and now South Carolina. This victory moved his Gamecocks (5-2, 3-2) a win short of being bowl eligible again in his second season.

"We didn't play our best today, but we played pretty doggone well. It was good enough to beat Vanderbilt today," Spurrier said.

The Gamecocks extended their school record with a fifth consecutive SEC road victory. They also beat Vanderbilt for the seventh time in a row in a series in which they've won 14 of the 16 games played.

And it was Newton, who tore an Achilles' tendon against Vanderbilt last season, who led the way in helping the Gamecocks score the most points given up by the Commodores this season.

Newton's two touchdown passes came in the second quarter where the Gamecocks scored 17 points in a row and built a 17-3 lead they wouldn't lose. He ran eight times for 40 yards and was 11 of 18 for 133 yards passing.

Cory Boyd also ran for 113 yards, and Sidney Rice caught seven passes for 89 yards.

Vanderbilt came in off its biggest road victory ever, a 24-22 upset of then-No. 16 Georgia last week. The Commodores had their chances to win consecutive SEC games for the first time since September 2005.

But they had trouble getting into the end zone against a South Carolina defense that ranked 18th in scoring defense, allowing only 14.1 points per game. Vanderbilt settled for three field goals and missed one of those.