KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — It was not quite the first quarter onslaught from two years ago, but the mistakes stacked up all the same on South Carolina football’s latest Neyland Stadium disaster.
The Gamecocks lost 41-20 to No. 21 Tennessee, giving up 17 unanswered points before halftime to flip some early positive momentum. South Carolina (2-3, 1-2 SEC) responded from going down 7-0 early to score the next 10 points of the game, keyed by a DQ Smith interception that set up a short field touchdown when Spencer Rattler soared into the end zone on a six-yard scramble.
But two plays later Tennessee (4-1, 1-1 SEC) quarterback Joe Milton hit Squirrel White on a 50-yard pass against tight coverage, and another two plays later Jabari Small went in untouched from two yards out to give the home team a lead it never relinquished.
From there, the most explosive play of the second quarter belonged to Kai Kroger on a 32-yard fake punt pass to Xavier Legette. After that, the Gamecocks closed the half with 17 yards on 18 snaps.
The offensive line reverted back to its week one form, failing to maintain any push against a Tennessee front that lived up to its pre-game billing as one of the top statistical defensive lines in the SEC. A series of head-scratching short yardage throws failed to make any dent in the offensive struggles as Tennessee’s tackling stayed on point all night. A crucial fourth-and-2 stop on a short pass to Legette set up a Tennessee field goal to take the lead to seven, and then the hammer blow came just before halftime.
Once again the Gamecocks were behind the chains, and once again the offensive line could not stand up in an obvious passing situation. A backpedaling Rattler sailed O’Mega Blake as his intended target and his pass fell straight into Kamal Hadden’s arms as the senior corner took a 28-yard jaunt to the end zone for a backbreaking pick six just before halftime.
And once Tennessee stacked scores off the back of a pick six with a ground-base gash. All but two snaps on the 12-play drive were on the ground, and Tennessee covered 75 yards in just over four minutes. Even after Mario Anderson Jr. tied his career-longest rush with a 75-yard blast and the defense restored possession with a quick three-and-out, short yardage failures doomed South Carolina.
Facing second-and-2 from the Tennessee 36, a pair of Anderson carries and a Rattler sneak failed to pick up the remaining two yards for South Carolina’s second plus territory turnover on downs in the half. Even after Jalon Kilgore snagged his first career interception, South Carolina’s offense could not gain any real traction.
Tennessee finished the game with 238 rushing yards on 40 carries, while Rattler finished with a season-low 169 passing yards.
South Carolina will have two weeks to catch its breath before returning to Williams-Brice Stadium on Oct. 14 for its homecoming game against 3--2 Florida.
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