GAMECOCKFANATICS OFFICIAL PREVIEW & PREDICTION THREAD:
Who: South Carolina Gamecocks (3-4, 2-3) vs Tennessee Volunteers (2-5, 1-3)
When: Saturday October 26, 2019
Kick-off: 4:00 pm ET
Where: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN
TV: SEC Network
The Gamecocks travel to Knoxville to battle the Tennessee Volunteers in an SEC-East Divisional match-up between two teams looking to improve on their chances for bowl game eligibility. Both teams are coming off losses from the previous week, and will be eager to return to the win column this Saturday.
The Coaches
USC Gamecocks
Head Coach: Will Muschamp (age 48), 4th year, 25-21 (53-42 as Head Coach - 8th year)
Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers: Bryan McClendon
Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs: Travaris Robinson
Quarterbacks: Dan Werner
Running Backs: Thomas Brown
Offensive Line: Eric Wolford
Tight Ends: Bobby Bentley
Defensive Line: John Scott Jr.
Special Teams/Linebackers: Coleman Hutzler
Special Teams/Nickel Backs/Sam Linebackers: Kyle Krantz
Outside Linebackers: Mike Peterson
UT Volunteers
Head Coach: Jeremy Pruitt (age 45), 2nd year, 7-12
Offensive Coordinator: Jim Chaney
Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs: Derrick Ansley
Co-Defensive Coordinator/ Outside Linebackers: Chris Rumph
Assistant Head Coach/Passing Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers: Tee Martin
Special Teams Coordinator/Inside Linebackers: Kevin Sherrer
Quarterbacks: Chris Weinke
Running Backs: David Johnson
Tight Ends: Brian Neidermeyer
Defensive Line: Tracy Rocker
Offensive Line: Will Friend
The Series Match-up
This season's game is the 38th in the series that dates back to 1903. Tennessee holds a 25-10-2 overall series advantage, but South Carolina has been more competitive in recent years, going 8-6 against the Volunteers over the previous 14 seasons. The last 9 seasons have been in three-win chunks for each program, with the Gamecocks winning in 2010, ’11, and ’12, the Vols winning in 2013, ’14, and ’15, and then the Gamecocks winning again in 2016, ’17, and last season in 2018. So this will be a season in which the Gamecocks try to break that pattern, and win an unprecedented fourth consecutive time in the series. Tennessee owns the longest consecutive win streak in the series by far, with 12 straight wins from 1993 through 2004.
Key Match-ups In The Game
Once again as seems to be the consistent case with the SEC, the lines of scrimmage will play a deciding role in how these teams succeed. Both the Gamecocks and Volunteers come into this game with questions regarding the health and status of their Quarterbacks. True Freshman Ryan Hilinski survived the game against Florida without any apparent new injuries or aggravation to his banged up knee, but he was clearly hampered by the lack of mobility. No word on if he’s continued to recover, but Gamecock Head Coach Will Muschamp’s game week presser is later today.
Tennessee’s question involves True Freshman QB Brian Maurer: Maurer suffered a concussion last week against Alabama – the second consecutive week he’s had the injury – and while Vols Head Coach Jeremy Pruitt held his game week presser on Monday, he was non-committal on who would start for them this Saturday. Both teams will certainly look to bring pressure and harass each QB, and hope to disrupt both offenses’ passing offenses. This would be more impacting for the Volunteers, as their rushing offense has not been as effective as the Gamecock’s. However, there is a question there as well for this game, as one of USC’s leading rushers – senior Rico Dowdle – was injured early last week versus Florida, and no word has yet been issued regarding his status for this Saturday.
South Carolina Will Win If
The Gamecock defense has been able to fluster the Volunteer QB in the past recent wins, and will look to do the same again this Saturday. Despite the question regarding Dowdle, the Gamecocks still have their other top rusher in Tavien Feaster who is coming off of a career game versus Florida, and Tennessee has struggled this season against the opposing run game. A balanced offensive attack will be possible as long as the Gamecock offensive line is able to keep the Vol defenders off of Hilinski.
Defensively, the Gamecock secondary needs to guard UT WR Jauan Jennings, who’s having a solid receiving season and is the Volunteer’s top receiver. Jennings is Tennessee’s version of our Bryan Edwards this season, so CBs Horn and Mukuamu staying close to him will be key. The Gamecock defensive line will also need to contain the Volunteer rushing game, and in my opinion they should. Tennessee is not a good rushing team this season, and only has 5 rushing touchdowns thus far, last in the SEC. USC meanwhile has held opponents thus far to only 4 rushing touchdowns, tied for 3rd in the SEC behind Georgia and Alabama. Keep the Vols one-dimensional, with that dimension being their inexperienced QB, and the Gamecocks should be in strong position to win.
Tennessee Will Win If
The home crowd for the Volunteers are craving for a good SEC victory. The team is tired of losing to Will Muschamp. Tennessee stayed closer to Alabama than many expected them to, and they could come into this game with a boost of confidence for this reason. If South Carolina is not prepared to come in for a fight, and let themselves get overwhelmed by the orange crowd, they could have this game get away from them. No SEC game is an easy one - especially the ones on the road. If Tennessee comes out executing and hitting their passes early, it could be a long day for Gamecock fans.
Gamecock Fanatics Prediction
South Carolina 35, Tennessee 21
