Key Plays, Game Balls: Tennessee

SOUTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL

Gamecock Central hands out game balls and breaks down key moments from another disappointing game in Knoxville.

FIVE KEY PLAYS

1. Shi Smith to the house

On the first play of the game, Ryan Hilinski hit Shi Smith on a deep slant. The safety overran the play, and nobody could chase down Smith from behind. The 75-yard touchdown gave the Gamecocks a quick lead, and was also the bulk of the offense for much of the first half.

2. Punt return

South Carolina came up with a goal line stand to preserve its 7-3 lead. But South Carolina wasn’t able to move the ball and Joseph Charlton came on to punt. He boomed a 55-yarder, but may have outkicked his coverage. Marquez Callaway raced through the middle of the coverage for a 65-yard touchdown. The return effectively cancelled out the goal line stand and snatched back the momentum Tennessee had lost.

3. Jauan Jennings

I’m cheating by including two plays: after South Carolina scored to go ahead 14-10, Jennings caught two passes to move Tennessee 75 yards for a touchdown. He scored on a 48-yard catch that saw him break multiple tackles on his way to the end zone.

4. Shrout to Callaway

South Carolina appeared to catch a break when Jarrett Guarantano, who had been picking apart the defense, left the game with a wrist injury. But J.T. Shrout picked up where Guarantano left off. He hit Callaway for a 55-yard touchdown on the next drive. Not only did the score put Tennessee up 31-21, but it was clear that although South Carolina had managed to answer Tennessee in the first half, the dam had broken. Frustration began to boil over, as Israel Mukuamu shoved Callaway after the score, a sign that South Carolina’s focus was gone.

5. Blocked punt

It turned a disappointing loss into an embarrassing collapse. Tennessee went with an all-out rush, and it easily got to Charlton. It was Daniel Bituli who blocked the punt and recovered it for a touchdown, but if Bituli hadn’t gotten there, someone else would have.

GAME BALLS

Offense

Bryan Edwards

Edwards had eight catches for 83 yards. He passed Kenny McKinley to become South Carolina’s all-time leader in receptions, and moved into second place in career yardage.

He also did this:

Shi Smith

Smith put up even better numbers than Edwards. He started the game with the 75-yard touchdown reception, and just kept catching passes. Smith finished with 11 catches for 156 yards and a touchdown and set new career highs for catches and yards.

Defense

Ernest Jones

Jones had seven tackles in the first half alone. He left the game due to an elbow injury, meaning he had the good sense to miss the dismal second half.

Special Teams

Joseph Charlton

Charlton did have a punt blocked, but that was due to poor protection, and he was otherwise spectacular. Charlton averaged 50.7 yards on seven punts, with four of at least 50 yards. He did whiff badly going for a tackle on Callaway’s touchdown return, so we have found something he can’t do.