No. 9 South Carolina edges Vanderbilt in opener

Nashville, TN (Sports Network) - South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw dove head first for a two-yard gain late in the second quarter and immediately grimaced in pain while clutching his right shoulder.

He was examined in the locker room, missed half of the third quarter, but gutted it out and guided the Gamecocks to the go-ahead score early in the final frame.

Shaw's toughness, along with a healthy Marcus Lattimore, led No. 9 South Carolina to a 17-13 win over Vanderbilt in the season opener for both teams on Thursday.

"Connor (Shaw) just had a bruise, nothing was out or a sprain or a dislocation," South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier said. "He'll be sore for a while, but I think he should be ok. He had some nice runs when he was hurting a little bit and that's what it took."

Shaw completed 7-of-11 passes for 67 yards with an interception and carried the ball 14 times for 92 yards for South Carolina (1-0, 1-0 SEC), which has won 13 straight season openers and posted a school-record 11 wins last year.

"They gave me some medicine," Shaw said of his treatment in the locker room. "I got a ball and just started working out, I didn't want it to get stiff on me. It was painful, but I got through it."

Lattimore, who punched it in from a yard out for the go-ahead score to conclude a nine-play, 76-yard drive, had 23 carries for 110 yards and two touchdowns. It was the junior's first game back since tearing his ACL while blocking during a game against Mississippi State last October.

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