Tennessee 24 South Carolina 27
Photo Credit: Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics
It was a disappointing end to the game for Tennessee on Saturday night, losing to South Carolina 27-24. Tennessee played great for most of the game, but could not hold on for the win. The Vols’ defense forced a 3-and-out on the Gamecocks’ first possession. Then, on South Carolina’s next drive, Daniel Bituli deflected Jake Bentley’s pass and Shy Tuttle came down with an interception at the South Carolina 39-yard line. Just 6 plays later, Eli Wolf received a 5-yard touchdown pass from Jarrett Guarantano, after finding himself wide-open in the back of the end zone.
South Carolina executed an 11-play drive, with 8 runs and just 2 pass attempts, but were held to a 19-yard field goal. Tennessee led 7-3 at that point. The Vols then executed a 15-play, 71-yard scoring drive, with Ty Chandler and Tim Jordan being active in the passing game. Marquez Callaway caught passes of 16 and 12 yards on the drive. Jauan Jennings capped off the drive with a 6-yard touchdown reception. After scoring, Jauan put the ball on the chest of his defender, which warranted a penalty, but Vol fans approved of the amusing celebration. The Gamecocks responded with a touchdown of their own with 49 seconds remaining in the first half. Shy Tuttle blocked the extra point attempt and Tennessee led 14-9 at halftime.
The Vols were unstoppable on their opening drive of the second half. I would definitely consider it one of the best, if not the best drive of the season, thus far. The 9-play, 75-yard scoring drive was a work of art. Guarantano made completions of 6, 11, 20 and 6 yards. Chandler and Jordan made impressive plays running the ball and catching passes out of the backfield. A third running back, Carlin Fils-Aime scored the touchdown for the Vols, a 14 yard run to give Tennessee a commanding 21-9 lead.
A South Carolina touchdown cut the Vols’ lead to 21-16, but Tennessee answered with a 45-yard field goal by Brent Cimaglia. The chance at a touchdown was hurt by an unsportsmanlike penalty called against Marquez Callaway. In the third quarter, Tennessee’s defense was having mental lapses which forced them to execute poorly. On the first play of the Gamecocks’ next drive, Bentley completed a 73-yard pass to the Tennessee 2-yard line. South Carolina fumbled the ball and it was clearly recovered by Tennessee, but the refs were blind to this fact and the Gamecocks scored another touchdown a few plays later, their third on as many possessions. A field goal with 5:52 to go gave South Carolina a 27-24 lead, their first of the day. This would end up being the final score, as a false start pushed the Vols to 4th-and-10 from the South Carolina 49-yard line. Tennessee’s offensive line had a bad game, but they gave Guarantano ample time to throw the ball on the last play. He could not find an open receiver and took a sack.
Tim Jordan carried the ball 12 times for 62 yards and Ty Chandler recorded 54 yards on his 11 carries. Marquez Callaway led the team in receiving, with 86 yards on 9 receptions. Additionally, Josh Palmer, Tim Jordan and Ty Chandler posted 29 receiving yards each. Defensively, Nigel Warrior totaled 9 tackles (7 solo) while Todd Kelly Jr. and Darrin Kirkland Jr made 6 tackles each.
5 Takeaways
1. The incredibly close rivalry continues: Before the game, I mentioned that the past 6 meetings between Tennessee and South Carolina have been decided by an average of 3.3 points, with the highest margin of victory being the Gamecocks’ 6-point victory in 2017. Well, the margin of victory in the 2018 edition of this rivalry was 3, once again. Tennessee now has a 3-game losing streak to South Carolina, but the Vols are very close to regaining control of this series.
2. Penalties hurt the Vols: This year’s offensive line has not been up to par, by any stretch of the imagination. That being said, it is understandable that false starts are going to happen, but it is very painful to watch them come late in the game. It was not a very clean game in other categories either, as Tennessee committed 9 penalties that cost them a total of 75 yards. Meanwhile, South Carolina had just 2 penalties for 9 yards.
3. Guarantano needs protection: I have always been positive about Guarantano’s potential. I still believe that he can be amazing when the offensive line improves. He made the most of it on Saturday, completing 27-39 passes for 207 yards and 2 touchdowns. He had many short completions, as a result of having to get the ball out of his hands quickly. He will improve as the offensive line does.
4. The offense moved the ball well: Considering that Tennessee had just 8 real drives on Saturday, with a ninth being a kneel down at the end of the first half, they moved the ball efficiently. At one point, they were 8-11 of third down conversions and finished the game 11-16. The Vols’ offense totaled 351 yards and picked up 23 first downs, so there are some signs of life despite their record of 3-5.
5. The defensive struggles: The Tennessee defense that I saw in the first half was not the same one that I saw in the second half. They played lights out in the first half and I was very excited. Then, they gave up touchdowns on 3 consecutive possessions, with 2 coming to start the second half. It is important to note that 1 of the touchdowns should not have been, because the Vols clearly recovered a fumble just prior to the score. Still, they gave up a 73-yard pass, and on the South Carolina touchdown late in the second quarter, Alontae Taylor left his man wide-open in attempt to help several other teammates chase down the quarterback. Bentley proceeded to throw the ball right over Taylor. The Vols allowed 376 yards, with 224 of those coming on the ground, but they only allowed 11 completions and recorded an interception. I was disappointed in the way that they finished the game, but I don’t think it is a total disaster on the defensive side.
