Tennessee vs South Carolina Report Card: Grading the Vols

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Nov 7, 2015; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11) during the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports.

Here are offensive, defensive, special teams and coaching grades for the Volunteers in the Tennessee vs South Carolina game. They beat the Gamecocks 27-24.

You remember that semester in high school or college where you barely squeaked out passing grades and breathed a sigh of relief at the end because of it? That is kind of what the report card for the Tennessee Vols football team should look like after their victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks Saturday.

Butch Jones’s squad had to fight for a victory after once again blowing a two-score plus lead. In fact, it was blowing a three-score lead for the second time this year after they were up 17-0.

But the mental toughness of the Vols finally prevailed in this one, and in a win they accomplished a lot more than they had in other games by showing they had that toughness.

Now they are finally back in the above .500 column with a 5-4 record and should be able to improve upon that next weekend against a very easy North Texas Mean Green football team.

November just gets easier for this team after such a brutal first six games on the schedule.

But to enjoy that easy stretch they had to survive this game, which should not have been as tough as it was.