SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

The Gamecocks got back into the win column Saturday night with a 24-7 win over Vanderbilt, getting a much-needed victory to keep bowl eligibility alive.

South Carolina (4-5, 3-4 SEC) had a few really good performances from a handful of players, and it shows in this week's grades.

Quarterbacks: B+

Ryan Hilinski pieced together arguably his most efficient outing of the year, completing 24 of his 31 attempts for 235 yards and two touchdowns. He currently has the longest active streak of attempts without an interception. Saturday was just the second time this season he didn't throw a pick and wasn't sacked this year.

Also see: Instant analysis from Saturday's win

His 162.4 efficiency rating was a marked improvement over his 113.9 he had last week against Tennessee. Dakereon Joyner also had nine yards rushing in limited action.

Running backs: B

This season South Carolina's had a slew of backs step their games up and have career games or seasons, and Saturday was Deshaun Fenwick's turn, he'd rush for 102 yards and averaged close to six yards per carry. Tavien Feaster also had 53 yards and Kevin Harris returned to action after a pulled muscle to score his first touchdown against a SEC team.

They'd struggle in short yardage situations but another solid performance from a vastly-improved group.

Wide receivers/tight ends: B+

Bryan Edwards continued his warpath to almost every school record at South Carolina, tying a school record with 14 receptions Saturday for 139 yards and a touchdown. Xavier Legette (three catches, 39 yards) caught his first-career touchdown as well.

The grade gets brought down a little with a handful of drops, but another solid outing from this unit.

Offensive line: B+

After a rough outing last week, an incredibly-thin and patchwork unit kept its quarterback upright and plowed the way for 4.2 yards per carry in the run game. They'd struggle in short yardage getting push but a much better outing than last time out.

Also see: Everything Muschamp said after Saturday's game

Defensive line: B

Vanderbilt averaged less than four yards a carry, which is good, and they'd pressured Vandy quarterbacks twice; Aaron Sterling also had two sacks. The stats may not show it to a degree, but they had a very quietly good game against the Commodores.

Linebackers: A

T.J. Brunson maybe had the best all-around game of his career, leading the team with six tackles, one for loss, and hauled in his first-career interception. Ernest Jones added three more tackles and Sherrod Green continues to have his best year yet with three more tackles Saturday.

Secondary: A

Admittedly, this is grading on a scale after this unit gave up 351 yards to Tennessee last week, but it was a much better performance against Vanderbilt. After getting fooled on a double move to start the game, the Gamecocks gave up just 56 yards after the first drive.

Also see: Top150 prospect in for hoops game

In all, Vanderbilt quarterback threw for 76 yards, averaging 3.6 yards per attempt.

Special teams: A

Joe Charlton continues to punt the ball extremely well, Parker White hit his only field goal and Edwards had 53 yards in the return game, including a 35-yarder. Legette also had a nice 25-yard kick return to open the game.

Coaching: B-

This is always a tricky category with coaching looking a lot better when players are doing good things on the field. There are always calls coaches want back on both sides of the ball—and some of those came on third or fourth and short—but after the first drive defensively the Gamecocks looked much better and offensively they were efficient in spurts.

The potential to score more points was there, but any time a team wins 24-7 and shuts out an opponent for over three quarters, the coaches did something right.