Many happy returns: Vicari Swain makes impact for No. 11 South Carolina with 3 TD returns in 2 games

Swain is leading the Gamecocks in scoring with three punt returns for touchdowns through two games.

After returning a momentum-changing 80-yard punt for a score in South Carolina's 24-11 win over Virginia Tech in the season opener in Atlanta, Swain became the first player in school history to return two punts or kicks of any kind for touchdowns in the same game in a 38-10 win over FCS foe South Carolina State on Saturday night.

“My team needed a spark,” said Swain, who is also a backup cornerback.

It's safe to say that Vanderbilt will be fully cognizant of where the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Swain is on the field when the Commodores face the Gamecocks (2-0) in the Southeastern Conference opener for the both teams at Williams-Brice Stadium.

Certainly, South Carolina fans — nearly 80,000 of them — will be on the edge of their seats when a fourth down arrives.

“He’s very talented. He takes risks. He’s not afraid to go get the ball in tough settings,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said of Swain. “He has the courage that a good returner should have. He has the skills that a good returner should have. But also, it’s the way that they block for him, the design. They are a team that knows how to be aggressive and come after the punter some. They also know how to double up on your best coverage players and try to create space for him.”

South Carolina has dominated Vanderbilt over the last two decades, winning 16 straight games against the Commodores.

Vanderbilt’s last win over South Carolina came in 2008.

But coach Shane Beamer said if Gamecocks hope to continue that streak they'll need to amp things up, calling SEC games a “different animal.”

“This is certainly the best Vanderbilt team that we have played in my time as the head coach,” said Beamer, now in his fifth season at South Carolina.

Vanderbilt (2-0) is coming off a 44-20 thrashing on Virginia Tech last week, the same team that South Carolina squeezed by in the Beamer Bowl with help from the speedy Swain.

Still, the Gamecocks enter as a 5 1/2-point favorite, per BetMGM Sportsbook.

“This year has nothing to do with those previous years,” Beamer said. “I haven’t been around here for every year that we’ve played Vanderbilt, but I’d be hard-pressed to believe that there’s a better Vanderbilt team that we’ve played during that streak than the one we’re going to play Saturday night.”

Most concerning to Beamer is how well the Commodores are playing on offense.

Diego Pavia threw for 193 yards and two touchdowns — 54 yards to Brycen Coleman and 26 yards to Tre Richardson — in the win over the Hokies. Pavia has thrown for 573 total yards and five touchdowns in two games for Vanderbilt (2-0).

Beamer said the Commodores offense is looking “explosive” when it comes to going after big chunk plays in the passing game.

That is doubly concerning for South Carolina, which is now on its fourth-string nickel back due to injuries.

“They look even more confident than what they did last season, and they should,” Beamer said. “They all played a lot of football last season and won a lot of games. But that’s the biggest thing that jumps out to me, is just the ability to make big plays in the passing game on the outside. And they had good receivers, don’t get me wrong, last year. But this year, they’re a year older, they’ve added a couple guys to it and they seem even more willing to take those shots down the field.”

Sellers, meanwhile, is off to a slow start.

Viewed as a potential longshot Heisman Trophy candidate, Sellers has thrown for just 337 yards and two touchdowns this season and the Gamecocks have struggled at times moving the ball, even against South Carolina State. He has also run for a score.

Beamer doesn't appear overly concerned about it heading into Week 3.

“It’s early, the clock is ticking don’t get me wrong but we’re not as far off as people think either,” Beamer said. “It hasn’t been perfect. It needs to be better. There’s no question about it. But our guys had a really good day today, and we can just continue to keep our head down and work and improve and when it clicks, it’s really going to be good.”

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