Rapid Reaction: South Carolina crushes Tennessee, ends Vols' Playoff dream
COLUMBIA, SC — It was an unexpectedly wild game that altered the Playoff outlook. But for the No. 5 Tennessee, fate wasn’t on their side.
The Volunteers found their footing late in the first half, and it appeared the Vols would possibly escape a shootout in South Carolina, but it was the Gamecocks’ night in a shocking but thorough 63-38 victory at Williams-Brice Stadium. It was South Carolina’s 2nd victory over a ranked opponent this season.
The defeat unofficially ended the Volunteers’ (9-2) Playoff bid in a game that was supposed to solidify their chances. Instead, the roles for both teams were reversed.
The Vols’ had their share of miscues and misfortunes against a South Carolina (7-4) team that looked deflated after they suffered a 38-6 loss to Florida last week.
Spencer Rattler capped a career-day by throwing his 6th TD pass — a program record — in the final minutes to account for South Carolina’s final points.
South Carolina sealed the win when Rattler rolled away from pursuit on the right side of the field and lofted a 2-yard pass to a wide-open Jaheim Bell on the opposite side of the field for a TD and 49-31 lead. The Gamecocks’ 11-play, 75-yard drive was kept alive by careless consecutive personal foul and pass-interference penalties.
Rattler broke the Gamecocks’ record for most touchdowns in a game, a mark that has been held by 5 other quarterbacks recently by Jake Bentley in 2018. Rattler finished with 6 TDs and 438 yards. Antoine “Juice” Wells was his prime target with 11 catches for 177 yards.
Tennessee began to validate themselves in the third quarter, as they began to take momentum away from the host Gamecocks.
Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker found tight end Christian Fant wide open down the middle after a mixup in the Gamecocks’ secondary for a 41-yard scoring strike that silenced the 77,000 crowd and the power seemed to shift from a once USC 35-17 lead.
But Tennessee’s defense never solved Rattler or the Gamecocks’ attack, which totaled 603 yards.
Hooker left the game late in fourth quarter and didn’t return.
A key for the Gamecocks’ victory was the dominant play of their offensive line that gave Rattler solid protection all night and allowed just one sack. They also opened plenty of holes for USC offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield to be creative in the backfield with his receivers –sometimes having five receivers wide – and a makeshift running game without MarShawn Lloyd and Christian Beal-Smith.
In the first half, Tennessee couldn’t stop Rattler and got a dash of their own high-octane offense, as the junior quarterback tossed four textbook touchdown passes and burned the Volunteers’ secondary in single -coverage situations. Rattler was nearly flawless, connecting on 14-of-19 for 249 yards without a sack for the Gamecocks’ biggest offensive output with 35 points and 355 total yards.
South Carolina arguably had their most aggressive attack of the season, as Rattler had a number of his completions on first and second downs on their opening five possessions. The Gamecocks’ offense had some different wrinkles with Dakereon Joyner under center in the wildcat, hitting Rattler out of the backfield with a 15-yarder.
Shane Beamer picked up his biggest win to date — just in time as the Gamecocks will attempt to end their 8-game losing streak against Clemson next week.