Tennessee football vs. South Carolina: Five Gamecocks to watch for against Vols

This is the South Carolina Gamecocks’ breakout star of the year. While Nigel Warrior finally lives up to his hype on Rocky Top with three interceptions as a senior safety, Israel Mukuamo is just beginning to show what he can do.

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Just a sophomore,  Mukuamo already has four interceptions on the year. He’s been a major playmaker in the passing game, as he also has one pick-six, a tackle for a loss, 42 overall tackles with 32 of them being solo, and four pass deflections.

With his unique size at 6’4″ 205 pounds, Mukuamo can guard many receivers one-on-one that cornerbacks often can’t. That’s his big advantage, and it’s why he’s so elite. Two weeks ago was his breakout moment, as he had three interceptions against the Georgia Bulldogs, including his pick-six, along with 11 tackles. And that was against Jake Fromm, who is highly efficient.

Don’t count out his ability to do that to Tennessee football. You’re talking about a team that is one of the 20 worst in the nation at preventing interceptions, having thrown nine on the year. Mukuamo is just waiting to torch the Vols on Saturday.

Despite Jim Chaney’s likely desire to stick to the running game, it’s clear that the Vols will have to put it in the air some. When they do that, they will nee to account for Mukuamo at all times. He’s a rising superstar, and he could wreck UT really fast.