NASHVILLE — South Carolina’s 2022 football season will extend to a 13th game.

The Gamecocks are bowl eligible after a 38-27 road win over Vanderbilt, their second conference road win in a row and 14th in a row over the Commodores overall.

The win guarantees South Carolina (6-3, 3-3 SEC) will at least match its regular season from last season with three more games remaining to improve on it.

After a week where the offense faced heavy scrutiny in the wake of a 10-point output against Missouri, it came out firing on all cylinders early. South Carolina put up 149 yards of total offense in the first quarter alone, scoring 17 points in the opening frame.

It started with a crisp 70-yard opening drive on just five plays taking 2:15 off the clock after Darius Rush started the game with an interception. And just as South Carolina’s dramatic 21-20 win over Vanderbilt (3-6, 0-5 SEC) last season ended with a Xavier Legette touchdown, the 2022 edition of the game opened the same way.

Spencer Rattler connected with Legette on a 28-yard score, but he was not the only player wearing garnet and black who threw a touchdown in the first quarter.

When South Carolina got the ball back for its next possession — immediately following a 66-yard touchdown pass from AJ Swann to Quincy Skinner Jr. — it did so with Dakereon Joyner lined up in the backfield.

Joyner took a reverse, rolled out in the middle of what looked like a busted play and eventually found Antwane Wells Jr. open down the field. Wells did the rest, turning it into a 68-yard touchdown pass, Joyner’s first of the season and Wells’ third as a Gamecock.

Wells caught another touchdown in the third quarter, and finished with a game-high 110 receiving yards.

Vanderbilt did find the majority of its offensive success on the ground, and it was another poor first half from South Carolina’s defense. After Missouri wracked up 254 first half yards last week, Vanderbilt topped it with 288 yards in the opening 30 minutes.

Running back Ray Davis was the most explosive player on the field for the Commodores, rushing for 167 yards on 20 carries to help keep the home team in the game all night.

But every time Vanderbilt pushed, South Carolina pushed back. After Vanderbilt cut the deficit to 17-14 in the second half, the offense immediately responded with a quickstrike touchdown drive covering 80 yards in under two minutes. The key play was on third-and-1 when Christian Beal-Smith — playing for an injured MarShawn Lloyd who did not make the trip — took the ball 52 yards around the left side to score untouched.

And after Vanderbilt trimmed the deficit back to 10 points in the third quarter on a Patrick Smith touchdown run, the offense once again hit back with a lengthy touchdown drive.

But it was not just the offense.

Facing fourth-and-5 and a possible 47-yard field goal attempt, holder Kai Kroeger took the snap, threw the ball to defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway in the flat on a fake field goal. Hemingway rumbled his way forward to move the chains, and two plays later the ball ended up in the end zone.

Vanderbilt did slowly piece its way back into the game with an 87-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that Mike Wright capped off with a 5-yard touchdown pass in the flat to Davis to bring the deficit within two scores, and even got the ball back inside the final five minutes with an opportunity to create some late drama.

But when O'Donnell Fortune ripped the ball out of Ben Bresnahan's hands and Zacch Pickens scooped up the fumble, it put the final nail in the coffin and secured the road victory.

South Carolina will look to build its second conference winning streak of the season next week when it travels to Gainesville to take on 5-4 Florida.