Ryan Glasspiegel
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The Tennessee Volunteers went on the road at South Carolina and took care of business, Will Muschamp’s pleas to fans to get the f— up out of their seats notwithstanding.
It wasn’t the prettiest win in the world for the Vols, but it was a game where they never trailed; South Carolina made the perplexing decision to kick a field goal on 4th and 12 from the Vols’ 28 with a little over three minutes remaining to cut the lead from 7 to 4. The Gamecocks had a chance to drive for the win with slightly over a minute left, but fumbled the punt return.
For Jeremy Pruitt and Tennessee, an ugly win and a glamorous one count the same in the ledger. The Vols had no turnovers, and Jarrett Guarantano threw for 8.4 yards per attempt.
Next Saturday, Tennessee hosts Mizzou, which should be an opportunity to pick up more momentum.
SC scored an early touchdown and led 7-0. I wouldn’t call the last punt play a fumble.
Ten needs better QB play to seriously contend in the SEC.
As a lifetime Gamecock fan, losses like this are no longer a kick in the stomach. Afterwards, a more compelling question is “You gonna eat that last piece of pizza?”
Wasn’t a fan of UT’s inconsistency on D. They need to tighten up the secondary play. If SC doesn’t given them the gift at the end I had little faith in the secondary being able to cover anyone and hold the lead.
South Carolina has been a tough game for UT lately. Given that this was the first game of the season, it was at Columbia and COVID has played havoc with preparation, I am satisfied with the win. The defense was good enough. I need to see more consistency out of Guarantano though. Just like last year, he is missing wide open receivers too often. For now I’ll put it down to first game jitters and knocking off the rust. But he has to improve. The offensive line looked good for a change.