In a 41-21 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks, Tennessee football withstood many big plays. The Volunteers turned a corner in the process.
Admit it. You were ready to give up when Tennessee football allowed a touchdown pass on the first play. That was the peak moment for everybody in Vol Nation to question why they care about this team. After all, they were, 2-5 and did that against a 3-4 team led by a coach they were 0-7 against. Nothing could work in their favor.
It only got worse from there. The Vols were stopped on a 4th and goal from the one-yard line while down 7-3. Then, after taking the lead twice thanks to a punt return touchdown by Marquez Callaway and a touchdown pass from Jarrett Guarantano to Jauan Jennings, they managed to surrender it twice with back to back touchdown drives.
So down 21-17 at halftime, there was no reason to believe that this team could overcome too many setbacks. Tennessee football as a program had proven that every year since Phillip Fulmer’s firing outside of that 5-0 start in 2016. And they had definitely proven it this season, its second year under head coach Jeremy Pruitt.
Well, the bad breaks only continued in the second half. Brent Cimaglia missed his first field goal attempt from under 40 yards this season on the Vols’ opening drive of the second half. At that point, it was clear that they didn’t have what they needed in this game, despite a couple of big plays from Callaway, Guarantano and Jennings.
But then something strange happened. Jeremy Pruitt’s team, trailing in the second half, did not let a couple of setbacks end their chances at winning this game. So the defense came through and got them the ball back.
As they drove into the red zone, another setback hit. They were sacked on a play that brought up 3rd and 14. All Guarantano did was hit Jennings for a touchdown to put the Vols up 24-21, a play in which Guarantano and Jennings were both hit hard.
The hit on Guarantano knocked him out of the game. So there was even more reason to bet against the Vols. After all, even before that, they had seen both their starting tackles, Wanya Morris and Darnell Wright, go down due to injury. Meanwhile, their top defensive tackle, Darel Middleton, was ejected due to a controversial targeting penalty.
How did they overcome all of this? Well, Tennessee football got another stop on defense, and with both Guarantano and Brian Maurer hurt, JT Shrout came in to throw a 55-yard touchdown pass to Callaway. So once again, the Vols overcame massive setbacks.
Given how things have gone for these guys to this point, overcoming these issues shows a dramatic culture change. You can’t overstate what it meant for the mental toughness of Pruitt’s team to be able to do that.
Despite now being just 3-5, this may have been the culture change they needed. And to do it against Muschamp, who had an inexplicable stranglehold on the Vols, only further helped them. So this is a big deal heading into the future. South Carolina could be another major turning point victory on Rocky Top.