SOUTH CAROLINA [SIZE= 20px]AT[/SIZE] TENNESSEE
Gamecock Fanatics Official Game Thread
GAME DATE AND TIME: Saturday, Oct. 9th 12:00 P.M.
LOCATION: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN
VIDEO BROADCAST:
AUDIO BROADCAST: 107.5 The Game
LIVE STATS: Statbroadcast
Columbia, S.C. - The South Carolina Gamecocks Football season continues as they travel to Knoxville, TN to take on the Tennessee Volunteers in Neyland Stadium. The game kicks off at 12:00 p.m. noon Saturday and will be broadcast on ESPN2. The Gamecocks (3-2, 0-2), who are still looking for their first win in Southeastern Conference play, are coming off of a 23-14 victory against the Troy Trojans. Tennessee (3-2, 1-1) are coming off of a 62-24 blowout win over SEC foe Missouri Tigers.
Anish Shroff will call the action for ESPN2. He will be joined in the booth by Mike Golic Jr. Taylor McGregor will patrol the sidelines for the deuce. The familiar voices of Carolina Hall of Famers Todd Ellis and Tommy Suggs handle the call for the Gamecock Radio Network with Jamar Nesbit on the sidelines.
LOOKING FOR A MILESTONE WIN: A win over Tennessee would mark South Carolina's 100th conference win since joining the SEC in 1992.
CAROLINA VS. TENNESSEE: This is the 40th gridiron meeting between the Gamecocks and Volunteers in a series that dates back to 1903. Tennessee leads the all-time series, 27-10-2, including a 17-3 advantage in Knoxville and a 10-7-2 mark in Columbia. The teams have met every year since Carolina joined the SEC for the 1992 season, with the Volunteers winning 20 of the 29 meetings as conference rivals. The Gamecocks defeated Tennessee just three times in a 105-year period from 1903-2007, but have won seven times in the last 13 years from 2008-20, including three of the last five contests.
IT FIGURES TO BE CLOSE: Eight of the last nine contests (2012-20) have been decided by six points or less, with Carolina winning four games by 3, 3, 6 and 3 points and Tennessee winning four times by 2-, 3-, 3- and 4-point margins. Six of the last nine games have been decided by three points or less.
WHATEVER IT TAKES: South Carolina has played seven overtime games in its history, logging a 3-4 mark in those contests that needed more than 60 minutes to decide. Tennessee has been the opponent in three of the seven overtime games and accounted for three of the Gamecocks' four overtime losses, all decided by a field goal.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET: The Gamecocks opened the 2020 season at home on Sept. 26 and dropped a hard-fought 31-27 decision to No. 16/21 Tennessee. Carolina drove right down the field on its first possession to take an early 7-0 lead. The Vols scored the next three touchdowns to open up a 21-7 advantage early in the third quarter, but the Gamecocks stormed back to tie the game at 21 and again at 24. Jarrett Guarantano hit Josh Palmer on a 32-yard scoring strike with 9:35 left in the contest for a 31-24 UT lead. The Gamecocks would get a Parker White 45-yard field goal with 3:16 to play, but after the defense got a late stop, a special teams miscue cost Carolina a final chance to score. The yards gained was pretty even, with UT outgaining the Gamecocks, 394-379, but the Vols won the turnover battle 2-0. Collin Hill completed 25-of-39 passes for 290 yards, with Shi Smith on the receiving end of 10 passes for 140 yards.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET HERE: Tennessee scored on a pair of special teams plays and overcame a 21-17 halftime deficit to post a 41-21 win over South Carolina in Knoxville on Oct. 26, 2019. The Vols rolled up 485 yards of offense to just 397 for South Carolina, despite Ryan Hilinski completing 28-of-51 passes for 319 yards, including a 75-yard strike to Shi Smith on the game's first play from scrimmage. The loss snapped a three-game Carolina win streak in the series, which matched the 2010-12 stretch for the Gamecocks' longest winning streak over UT.
LAST GAMECOCK WIN: Jake Bentley threw for 152 yards and a touchdown, Rico Dowdle rushed for 140 yards and a score, and the Carolina defense stopped Tennessee on downs twice in the final quarter as the Gamecocks rallied from a 12-point deficit for a 27-24 win in Columbia on Oct. 27, 2018. Parker White's 25-yard field goal with 5:52 remaining proved to be the difference.
