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Tennessee football at South Carolina: 10 keys for Vols and Gamecocks

By Caleb Calhoun

COLUMBIA, SC - AUGUST 29: A general view of outside the stadium before the game between the North Carolina Tar Heels and South Carolina Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium on August 29, 2013 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC - AUGUST 29: A general view of outside the stadium before the game between the North Carolina Tar Heels and South Carolina Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium on August 29, 2013 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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10. Will Muschamp factor

There’s no way to avoid this one. It’s the most random of random Tennessee football stats. The Vols are 0-6 against Will Muschamp as a head coach. After failing to hire him in 2010 to replace Lane Kiffin, he went to the Florida Gators.

In Gainesville, Muschamp won four straight against Rocky Top. But we have enough history to show that the winning streak then should have been more about Florida’s ownership of Tennessee than anything.

However, when he went to South Carolina in 2016, he won again. And that is when it looked like the Vols were cursed against him. Remember, Butch Jones’s team in 2016 was 5-2 and in prime position to win the East before choking against S.C. He had won three straight against that team before Muschamp got there.

So the question becomes if he’ll be a factor in this game. There’s no denying now that he has something on the Vols. It’s through a twist of fate that each individual game against him had a major factor that caused the loss.

In 2011 and 2012, Muschamp just had better talent. Then,  in 2013, Jones randomly decided to start Nathan Peterman solely against Florida, and that decision cost the Vols. The next three losses all came from horrible game plans by Jones, which is no surprise.

Can Jeremy Pruitt break this losing streak? Maybe, but it has to be in the heads of some players that they can’t beat Muschamp. After all, there’s no way to avoid the fact that it’s an embarrassing record for a program like UT.

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