The Fearless Prediction is quite sad, knowing that college football season is almost over. We don’t plan to finish on a down note. Let’s get after it with the 11th game of the year for Tennessee as it hits the road to play South Carolina.

Losses to Alabama, Florida and Georgia have given Vols fans some of their worst memories over the past few decades. But pound for pound, you must throw South Carolina in the mix when it comes to the most impactful losses in program history.

In 1992, South Carolina had just joined the SEC. Tennessee was in position to win the newly formed Eastern Division, but the Gamecocks upset the Vols 24-23 on Halloween in Columbia. That loss kept the Vols out of the 1st SEC Championship Game. A couple of weeks later, Johnny Majors was fired, and Phillip Fulmer was hired as the Vols’ new head coach.

By 2005, the series was squarely in Tennessee’s favor, with the Vols winning 12 in a row after that 1992 defeat. South Carolina hired the Vols’ old nemesis, Steve Spurrier, as its new head coach. Spurrier led the Gamecocks to a shocking 16-15 upset at Neyland Stadium. The Vols finished the season 5-6, their 1st losing season in 17 years.

In 2008, Tennessee fell 27-6 at South Carolina, dropping it to 3-6. Only 2 days later, Fulmer was fired after 16 seasons in charge.

And in 2016, the ghosts of 1992 returned. The Vols had beaten Florida and Georgia and were the favorites to win the SEC East, but a 24-21 loss in Columbia knocked them out of contention.

Tennessee holds a 28-10-2 record in this series, but some of those losses have really stung. And that leads us to what should be a cold Saturday night of football in Columbia. The 9-1 Vols will enter Williams Brice Stadium as a 3-TD favorite with so much left to play for, while 6-4 South Carolina is already bowl-eligible, finishing out the string against UT and next week against rival Clemson.

Let’s start things off by talking about the Vols’ and Gamecocks’ offenses.

The Vols are coming off a record-setting afternoon against Missouri, as they produced a program-record 724 yards of offense. Tennessee bounced back from a rough outing against Georgia, looking every bit the part of a team vying for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

On the other hand, South Carolina is still smarting after a 38-6 loss at Florida that was worse than the final score indicated. The Gators picked up 374 rushing yards. The Gamecocks coughed up 3 fumbles in their first 4 snaps of the 3rd quarter. South Carolina’s only TD came off a fake punt.

Tennessee’s offense is still at the top of the college football mountain, ranked 1st nationally with 47.4 points and 543.7 yards per game. South Carolina’s offense is ranked 69th with 28.6 points per game and 92nd with 355.2 yards per game.

Vols QB Hendon Hooker has thrown for 2,888 yards with 24 passing TDs and only 2 INTs. He has also rushed for 405 yards and 5 scores. He will be a Heisman Trophy finalist, and he could become the 1st Tennessee player to win the award.

Gamecocks QB Spencer Rattler was, at one time, considered a Heisman Trophy contender. But he struggled at Oklahoma, and he has restarted his career at South Carolina with mixed results. Rattler has thrown for 1,982 yards and has more INTs (9) than TD passes (8). He’s not much of a threat to run, with only 8 rushing yards this season.

Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt is a South Carolina native who played high school football right by the University of South Carolina campus, but he wasn’t recruited by the Gamecocks. Hyatt has made them regret that decision with 56 catches this season, including 15 receiving TDs (1st in the nation) and 1,116 receiving yards (2nd).

Antwane Wells Jr. is the Gamecocks’ top receiver with 43 catches for 590 yards and 4 scores.

On the ground, Tennessee is getting a lot of production out of Jaylen Wright, Jabari Small and Dylan Sampson, who have combined for 1,399 rushing yards and 24 TDs. South Carolina running backs MarShawn Lloyd and Christian Beal-Smith have been banged up, but head coach Shane Beamer says he is “optimistic” they will play against the Vols.

Tennessee is ranked 85th in total defense, with South Carolina a bit better, ranked 78th. Linebacker Aaron Beasley and safety Trevon Flowers lead the Vols with 53 tackles apiece. Safety Nick Emmanwori is tops for South Carolina with 66 stops.

The Vols have won the past 3 games in this series, including a 45-20 stomping last October. Tennessee is much better today than it was a year ago, while South Carolina looks very much like the 2021 version of itself.

Weird things can happen in this series, but that won’t be the case this weekend. Tennessee is expected to win, and it will.

Fearless Prediction time …

Tennessee 49, South Carolina 17