Mike Matthews gives Tennessee halftime lead with Wildcat TD
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Mike Matthews is a very talented junior wide receiver for No. 11 Tennessee and a big part of the Volunteers’ passing game.
But the junior Georgia native has a plethora of ways to help Tennessee’s offense, and that versatility was on full display in the dying moments of the first half of Saturday afternoon’s SEC showdown at South Carolina.
The Volunteers were playing catchup during the entire first half, falling behind 14-0, coming back to tie the game at 14-14 and then falling behind again, 17-14. But there was still just enough time for Tennessee to take its first lead of the afternoon, and that’s where Matthews came into the picture.
Matthews had 2 catches for 24 yards in the first 30 minutes for the Vols, but it was his legs that made the difference in sending Tennessee to the halftime locker room with a 21-17 lead.
The Volunteers lined up in a Wildcat formation on a 2nd-and-goal play from the South Carolina 8-yard line, with Matthews set to take the snap. He did just that, taking the ball himself on a keeper to the right side, cutting it back and barreling into the end zone standing up to give the Vols that coveted first lead of the game.
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Matthews has 3 touchdown catches this season, but that was his first rushing TD of 2026, and it was an important one that gave Tennessee the momentum going into the locker room.
Here is that surprise Wildcat touchdown scored by Matthews:
Tennessee had the lead at halftime, but there was still 30 more big minutes to go in Columbia. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about Tennessee’s chances to finish things off and get a big road victory in Week 8:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
