Rapid reaction: Tennessee extends winning streak with narrow escape at South Carolina
Despite its sub-par effort on third down, Tennessee pulled out a win at South Carolina.
The Vols were just 1-for-9 on third down conversions, but they got enough in the second half, and held South Carolina to a pair of field goals as seemingly promising drives stalled in the red zone.
At times, it appeared bleak, but Tennessee extended its winning streak to seven games. South Carolina saw the debut of QB Collin Hill find regular connection with Shi Smith, who had 10 catches for 145 yards and a TD. But the Gamecocks could not develop much offensive rhythm.
South Carolina held Tennessee near midfield with 1:33 left in the game. But on the Tennessee soccer-style punt, South Carolina’s Cam Smith allowed the ball to brush his back leg, and punt returner Jammie Robinson couldn’t return it as the Vols recovered. The Vols held on for their seventh straight win with a big sigh of relief and a 31-27 victory.
The second half became a punch-counterpunch affair, and Tennessee QB Jarrett Guarantano delivered a big throw down the sideline for a 32-yard Josh Palmer touchdown against Cam Smith with 9:35 left in the third quarter. That was a quick answer through a four-play, 75-yard drive after South Carolina had a seemingly dominant drive sputter in field goal range. The Gamecocks played much of the second half of the game without CB Israel Mukuamu, who was on the bench without his helmet.
To open the game, South Carolina had a strong start with 75 yards on its opening drive for a score, but the next two possessions totaled zero yards and two punts. In that span, Tennessee grabbed momentum thanks to a 90-yard drive in seven plays to tie the game. Guarantano capped it with a 1-yard QB sneak.
The Vols poured it on when LB Henry To’o To’o picked off a deflection of a pass from Hill, who narrowly avoided a sack, and scored from 32 yards out.
Tennessee probably should have been up by more than seven points at halftime, after the Gamecocks had just 125 yards of total offense, and 75 came on first drive. South Carolina averaged 3.29 per play, 1.4 per rush.
Neither team’s offensive line got much push, but Tennessee’s mustered just 10 rushing yards by halftime on 12 carries. The Vols were also just 1-for-5 on third down attempts, a sign of things to come.
Both teams came out firing in the second half, and South Carolina WR Shi Smith continued his strong play against the Vols. Smith had 11 catches for 156 yards against the Vols last season, and scored on a 29-yard touchdown pass early in the second half to give him eight catches for 113 yards. Hill also had a 42-yard pass to Xavier Legette on that drive.
That answered a run-dominated strong Tennessee drive mostly up the middle and had 64 yards on the ground including a 19 yard run by Guarantano on that sequence alone. South Carolina appeared to get the momentum back when Tennessee K Brent Cimaglia missed a 47-yard FG attempt wide left.
South Carolina’s third-string RB Deshaun Fenwick made a splash in the passing game in the third quarter, with back-to-back catches for 26 yards to set up a Hill 1-yard TD to tie the game.
South Carolina returns to action next week with Florida, while Tennessee will play Missouri.
Congrats to the Vols. Looks like it’s going to be a long, shortened season for both teams.
Hey Bill good game.
Good luck to USC the rest of the way. I have no idea what to expect the rest of the way. I will only wager a bet that:
1. Alabama will be good
2. Vandy will be bad
3. All other 12 teams will be up and down
Obviously you didn’t watch Vandy tonight, which is understood because your team was playing.
Vandy showed up tonight alright. Some were on A&M offense just casually handing the ball back to y’all three times, but still a tough fight for sure.
True. I was surprised to see that Vandy halftime score. Very impressive. I would’ve watched under normal circumstances. I wagering Vandy would struggle because it seems they were hit harder by opt outs than anyone else.
Either way, respect to Vandy for tonight.
No one needs to watch Vandy…they’ll never amount to anything in college football. Good for baseball but that’s about it.
Turnovers really cost SC, TN was like 1-11 on 3rd downs. TN run defense looked good though and JG didn’t do anything to lose the game. Gray looks like he was a little over hyped. Good win UT.
JG kept the game competitive
Lol, at the very lest UT is making real progress. A player or two away from making real noise.
Hard to say about Gray when he only gets a measly 10 touches. Play calling was bad lol
Gray had 12 carries for 40 yards, Chandler had 13 carries for 86. Chandler>Gray. Maybe he should be featured more at wr than rb.
Gray is recovering currently and was used between the tackles as an outside the tackle back. Not really valid to say he’s overhyped based on one game. If that’s your rationalization process, tell me how Leach is the next Saban.
Came down to the luck of the bounce.
Lots of confidence after one showing in Kyle field. Lousy play by UT.
Vandy couldn’t beat a team that wasn’t even trying lol
I rather have the true freshman we had starting at QB than a 4 year starter in JG who hasn’t improved and is still inconsistent. Don’t know what Pruitt sees in him.
I agree JG isn’t good. I do think it’s preemptive to talk smack. Did your freshman get a win?
I don’t know what you see in Vandy!!!!!! Sometimes you go with experience,, and JG is a veteran,, battle tested!!! Wasn’t surprised at all by LSU losing,,, the losses were far too many!!! Florida O very impressive!!!! Auburn with a big win!!!!
SIgh. G is still G, making incredible throws and missing high consistently. Fun game to watch. Good luck to USC the rest of the season.
A win is a win. Two pretty even teams. Feel for the guy the ball hit at the end. What a way to lose. From our standpoint G is still erratic but just seemed more confident and made no bonehead plays. Too many high throws but he was better. WR looks pretty good. O line could have used mays buT SC must have used a dozen D linemen so we couldn’t wear them out. Overall I thought we did pretty good considering all the missed practices.
Agreed. If both of our teams keep playing this way it will not be a good year. Too many drops, simple mistakes, and our QB wouldbhave overthrown Shaq out there. Smh.
Takeaways:
1. Same JG
2. Worse play calling
3. Receiving corps and Henry T played well
4. Banks should be kicked off team upon arrival in Knoxville
5. UT will win no more than 4 games if 1 and 2 don’t change
But if an over reaction oskie. Lighten up. We won. Remember how much practice was missed.
After seeing Vandy and Arky, SC might be the worst team in the SEC. We won by a fluke. 2-12 on third downs and terrible qb play. Tell me how this is a positive.
How quickly you forget Georgia State and West Virginia before that.
We won an opener on the road in the SEC. Lighten up, Francis.
Hear you fuzz on lack of practice. But no matter how much you practice, you still need to play with discipline. Banks has a ways to go in that department. 10 yards rushing in the first half with our o line is not good. Glad to get the win in a tough environment, lot of upside with our team.
I totally disagree on the play calling. We would have had an easy 14 more points in JG doesn’t keep overthrowing guys.
Not running the ball, not covering Shi and the TE, not benching JG, not pulling Banks.
I normally don’t watch a game I wager on, which may seem odd. Biggest bet of the day was on the Vols and ended up having to stress to the end. That gift pick six was the difference.
Was it me or did players on most teams seem out of shape? I saw Bama linemen gasping for air in the 2nd quarter. Maybe taking away the fans has an effect on adrenaline.
Keith, where exactly is the “back leg” on a human? Seems as elusive as finding the nuggets on a chicken. (To clarify, the punted ball bounced into Smith’s right leg).
I’ve been bank rolling on my Gamecocks since the beginning of last year and I’m off to a good start again. I will have to say our defensive back #9 was your best player all night.
I think he is still smoking.
Happy for the win. This team has a long way to go to match up with Florida or Georgia. Offensive and Defensive lines are being rebuilt.
Special teams have some work. I guess if you consider practice times
and other matters of preparation, in this crazy year, we should enjoy
the win and hope performance improves.
GOTTA improve on third down conversions, but Cocks gave them a tough game. Take away that muffed punt…don’t understand the field goal but I ain’t making millions.