Tennessee may be just the medicine for Jake Bentley’s turnover problems.

In two games against Tennessee, the South Carolina quarterback has completed 30 of 44 passes for 296 yards with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. The Gamecocks have also won both games against the Volunteers with Bentley at the helm. With South Carolina being minus-6 in SEC games in turnover margin this season, this may be the best possible opponent to arrive next week.

Saturday’s loss to Alabama aside, this is a different Tennessee team than it was even three weeks ago, following last week’s Auburn win. A year ago, Butch Jones was at the end of the line in his Tennessee tenure by the time of the South Carolina game. Now, new coach Jeremy Pruitt has a signature win Jones couldn’t deliver, especially that early.

Now Tennessee is facing a similar circumstance to South Carolina’s earlier this year, with quarterback Jarrett Guarantano dealing with a collarbone injury. Backup Keller Chryst came in against Alabama and offered the kind of spark South Carolina’s Michael Scarnecchia did against Missouri, throwing 2 touchdowns soon after he entered.

Look for some discussion about Will Muschamp’s 6-0 record against Tennessee as a coach at Florida and South Carolina.

If history is any indication, this will be a close one.

The Gamecocks beat Tennessee just three times between 1903-2007 but have won six of the last 10 contests from 2008-17. Each of the last six contests has been decided by six points or less, with South Carolina outscoring the Vols by a 164-160 margin during that  stretch. The Vols have won 18 of the 26 meetings as SEC foes.

The Tennessee games have been an example of what could be from Bentley. The lack of interceptions are a stark contrast to the running narrative. Bentley has thrown 16 interceptions the last two seasons, including 8 against SEC opponents.

Of course, Bentley could also be helped by something that has largely been absent this season for the Gamecocks: a pass rush. They’re likely to get back pass rusher D.J. Wonnum, who has been out since he suffered a leg injury in the season opener against Coastal Carolina. One of the main storylines in last year’s 15-9 win over Tennessee was the 7 sacks registered by South Carolina.

Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

Tennessee’s pass defense was exposed against Auburn eight days ago as the Tigers rang up 322 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air.

“The question you’ve got to ask yourself is are you putting guys in position to be successful, are we aggressive enough to do what we need to do, and we are,” Muschamp said in an off week press conference, according to audio posted by SportsTalkSC.

Muschamp has stood by offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon, but he admitted on his radio show that there may be tweaks to the offense going forward.

“We are looking at having more run-to-run and taking some tags off the RPOs,” he said. “We’re going to still do the RPOs, that’s been very good for us, but sometimes we’re getting too far away from the run game and not sticking with it.”

In what seems to be a season full of barometer games for South Carolina, this is yet another. Tennessee, before the Alabama game, was slightly better than the Gamecocks in rushing offense and rushing defense. The same can be said for red zone conversions, all of which Muschamp said the Gamecocks would focus on in the off week.

“Again, I think going back and doing some of the simple things better,” Muschamp said. “Those sort of things continue to hurt us and we’ve got to be able to overcome them.”

The 7:30 p.m. game on the SEC Network is another chance to take advantage of Williams-Brice Stadium. With road games ahead at Ole Miss and Florida coming off the bye week, it’s especially important for South Carolina to get back on track if it wants to secure a bowl berth.