South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier began Tennessee week by calling the Vols a “good team” … but one with a record that “isn’t real good” during his weekly Sunday afternoon teleconference.

“They got a young group of players that really give it all they got,” Spurrier said. “It’s a tough task and hopefully we can get everybody pumped up and try to have a real big game on Saturday night.”

South Carolina (4-4, 2-4 SEC) hosts Tennessee (3-5, 0-4) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Williams-Brice Stadium. The Vols are coming off a 34-20 loss to No. 4 Alabama in Knoxville, while the Gamecocks fell 42-35 to No. 4 Auburn.

“We’ll regroup, look forward to Tennessee this week — Eastern Division rival, I would say they’re one of our four big rivals with Georgia, Florida and Clemson,” Spurrier said on his Sunday conference call. “Hopefully we can get ready to play our best. They beat us last year in Knoxville. They’ve got a good team. Their record isn’t real good, about like ours, but they’re playing with a lot of effort and a lot of energy.”

Spurrier holds a 14-9 career record against Tennessee dating back to his tenure as head coach at Florida. South Carolina won five of the past nine meetings with Tennessee since his hire in 2005. Prior to Spurrier’s arrival, the Gamecocks had only seven wins all-time in the series.