Tennessee football fans screamed themselves hoarse and fired up cigars after a rousing 26-10 victory over Alabama at Neyland Stadium on Oct. 17.
But when the smoke cleared, they could see the challenge ahead. If this SEC season has taught us anything, it’s this: One great performance doesn’t necessarily lead to another.
The league has never been more volatile. That surely isn’t lost on UT fans as their Vols prepare for a road trip to South Carolina on Oct. 24.
Never mind that the Vols have a commanding 29-11-2 advantage in the series. Recent results in the series qualify Williams-Brice Stadium as a hostile venue for Tennessee.
Want to see visible pain in a Tennessee fan’s face? Just say “Columbia 2022.”
That’s when a supposedly mediocre bunch of
Gamecocks rocked Rocky Top, and Spencer Rattler performed at a higher level than any other quarterback in the history of the series.
Rattler completed 30 of 37 passes for 438 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions in a 63-38 victory that killed any Tennessee hopes of making college football’s four-team playoff.
Not all South Carolina’s victories in the last 16 years of the series have been stunning.
When the Gamecocks won three consecutive games (2010-12) over the Vols, the outcomes were hardly surprising. Just check the coaching matchup: UT’s Derek Dooley vs. South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier. What would you expect?
The only surprise: The Gamecocks didn’t win any of the three games by more than 14 points.
But South Carolina also has been victorious when it didn’t have a significant coaching advantage. In the past 14 games in the series, each team has won seven times.
And South Carolina’s 2022 win wasn’t its only upset. Other mediocre Gamecocks’ teams have upended the Vols in Columbia.
In 2016, Butch Jones’ 5-2 Tennessee team suffered a 24-21 loss in Will Muschamp’s first season at South Carolina. The Gamecocks were 3-4 before knocking off the Vols behind 17-year-old freshman quarterback Jake Bentley.
Two years later, a 3-3 South Carolina team defeated the Vols again with Bentley at quarterback.
Games like that have taught UT fans to ignore South Carolina’s record when the Vols travel to Columbia.
In preseason, I thought this would be Shane Beamer’s last go-round as South Carolina’s coach. I was convinced of that after watching Alabama score 35 first-half points on the way to a 49-18 victory on Sept. 26.
But two games later, Beamer is still coaching and ready to smirk again on the South Carolina sideline.
Beamer’s Gamecocks have had more than a week to revel in a 38-19 upset of Florida that I didn’t see coming. Neither did the oddsmakers.
Tennessee should be focused on that result more than the Gamecocks’ 3-3 record, especially since South Carolina had an open date on the same Saturday the Vols were pounding Alabama.
South Carolina’s record is deceiving. It blew a 16-0 lead in losing to Mississippi State 41-34 and lost a 17-0 advantage in losing to Kentucky in overtime 35-34.
Those scores tell you it isn’t hurting for offense. It leads the SEC in rushing yards per game and ranks 14th nationally in total offense.
Gamecocks running backs aren’t lacking in size, either. They average 215 pounds. And 240-pound quarterback LaNorris Sellers has a prominent role in their running game.
Sellers might be the perfect South Carolina quarterback for the Tennessee series. In his third season as a starter, he’s one of the SEC’s most unpredictable players.
He completed only 10 of 23 passes for 96 yards against Towson. But he was 23-of-35 for 279 yards and four touchdowns against Florida.
He’s also South Carolina’s second-leading rusher (behind Matt Fuller) with 411 yards, including 147 yards on 17 carries against Kentucky. And South Carolina fans will never forget his freshman performance in a 17-14 upset of Clemson when he rushed for 166 yards on 16 carries.
The Vols had no trouble containing Texas dual-threat quarterback Arch Manning, but Auburn’s Byrum Brown rushed for 107 yards on 19 carries.
Sellers’ size and speed pose a greater threat to Tennessee’s defense. And any South Carolina threat to the Vols is magnified at Williams-Brice Stadium.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football should be well aware of South Carolina threat on road | Adams
