COLOMBIA, SC – Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano expected a difficult time in South Carolina. He also expected 16th place Vols to reach the top, no matter how difficult things got.
The Vols squandered a two touchdown advantage in the second half and held on to defeat the Gamecocks 31-27 for their seventh straight win.
The game was not decided until a punt from Tennessee touched Cam Smith of South Carolina and Jimmy Holiday of the Vols recovered with 1:24 left.
“When you’re on the road at the SEC, nothing is easy,” said Guarantano. “You saw some of that today.”
There was also a lot of Guarantano to see. The player who passed in the fifth year gave Josh Palmer the tie-break touchdown at 9:35 am, then stood firm enough to keep South Carolina under control.
“I’m glad they found a way, do you know?” Said Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt.
Despite the exasperating finish, Pruitt said the Vols’ mission was accomplished.
“The bottom line is that we’re leaving Columbia with a ‘W’, and that’s what we came here for,” he said.
Tennessee seemed to have the Southeast Conference and the season opener in hand when it advanced 21-7 on Eric Gray’s 12-yard score on his first shot of the third quarter.
But South Carolina recovered behind starting defender Collin Hill with two touchdowns and a field goal to draw 24-all in the fourth period.
That was when Guarantano scored with great consecutive plays for the decisive score.
Guarantano was heavily pressured when he took the ball to a single Brandon Johnson for 33 yards within the territory of South Carolina. In the next play, Guarantano sent Palmer a perfect pass for a 32-yard touchdown.
Palmer was grateful that Guarantano trusted him to make the move. “But it was just a traditional route, the defender won and caught him over the shoulder,” he said.
For Pruitt, there was a lot of inconsistency to correct for Guarantano and the attack going forward.
“We have to go back and find out where we are offensively and where we can create some consistency,” said the third year coach. “But we set up a few units and ended the game.”
South Carolina seemed to have a final chance when it forced a Tennessee punt 90 seconds from the end. But the punt touched Cam Smith after hitting the ground, Holiday recovered and the Vols ran out of time to win.
“No move made us lose the game,” said South Carolina coach Will Muschamp.
Guarantano finished 19 of 31 to 259 yards. He also ran for Tennessee’s first touchdown.
South Carolina, with a new offensive coordinator at former Colorado State coach Mike Bobo and a new defender at Hill transfer, showed some spark when making the initial 75-yard run for a touchdown in Kevin Harris’s 3-yard run.
Linebacker Henry To’o To’o had a 32-yard interception return for a touchdown, catching the ball after it rebounded into receiver Shi Smith’s hands and tiptoeing down the sideline to the scoreboard.
Hill finished 25 of 39, passing for 290 yards and a touchdown. Smith had 10 140-yard receptions for Gamecocks.
Hill blamed himself for the interception, throwing the ball behind Smith, where To’o To’o could play the defensive game.
“The most striking move is choice six,” said Hill. “You just can’t turn the ball around.”
THE TAKEAWAY
Tennessee: Vols AD Phil Fulmer said on Thursday that the school extended Pruitt’s contract until 2025, an indicator of how strongly she feels about her current leadership. Although Tennessee has some work to do, he kept his balance on the home stretch to keep his winning streak alive.
South Carolina: The Gamecocks’ attack marked only an offensive touchdown in their last three games last year. They tripled that total in this game, as Hill looked confident in his first game since transferring from Colorado State.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
It is difficult to see Tennessee falling in the ranking with a solid SEC victory early in the season.
MAKING A CHOICE
The Gamecocks, losing 31-24, had a quarter to 12 in Tennessee 28 with less than four minutes left when Muschamp decided to send Parker White for a 45-yard field goal to the South Carolina end points. timeouts seemed to work until the punt muff. Muschamp said he might not have kicked if “it was less than a quarter to 12”.
COVID-19 CROWD
South Carolina was allowed by the state to allow some 20,000 people to enter the Williams-Brice Stadium due to the pandemic. There were 15,009 who attended, seated in certain places in the socially distant stadium. Those who were there still made an impact, said To’o To’o. “You couldn’t tell it was empty,” he said. “South Carolina fans did a great job supporting them, playing. They were loud.”
NEXT
Tennessee play their home game against Missouri next Saturday.
South Carolina is on the road to face Florida No. 5 on Saturday.
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