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Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols’ 41-21 win over Gamecocks

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 26: Jarrett Guarantano #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers warms up before the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Neyland Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 26: Jarrett Guarantano #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers warms up before the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Neyland Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images
Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images /

Will Muschamp’s dominance over Tennessee football ended with a bang. Here are five takeaways from the Volunteers’ victory over South Carolina.

Early on, it seemed like Tennessee football was in trouble. The Vols gave up a 75-yard touchdown pass to the South Carolina Gamecocks on the first play from scrimmage to fall behind 7-0, and panic mode set in again on Rocky Top.

But they rebounded with a strong second half to score 24 straight points, including back to back touchdown passes from two different quarterbacks and a blocked punt for a touchdown to pull away for a 41-21 win. It was a beautiful way for Rocky Top to end the Will Muschamp curse, and it didn’t seem like it would happen early on.

The Vols were stalled in South Carolina territory down 7-0 early, and Brent Cimaglia came through with only a field goal. After being shut down on 4th and goal from the one-yard line, on the next drive, it seemed like the Gamecocks were set to dominate.

Both offenses came to life after that, though. Tennessee football had a punt returned for a touchdown, and then S.C. had back to back offensive touchdowns while the Vols had one of their own in between. All of a sudden, what was supposed to be a defensive struggle became a 21-17 halftime lead for South Carolina.

UT missed a field goal on the opening drive of the second half, but the defense kept fighting. And it was after that missed field goal that the onslaught came alive, with back to back drives with touchdown passes followed by a field goal drive. The blocked punt for a touchdown ended it.

SEC officiating was once again a topic of criticism, as the refs overturned three of four South Carolina touchdown calls. They also allowed the Vols to get away with a blatant hold on their first goal-line drive, and they allowed a pass interference on that drive while missing blatant face mask later. This topic will not go away.

However, Jeremy Pruitt’s second team on Rocky Top moved to 3-5 on the year and 2-3 in the SEC. South Carolina, meanwhile, falls to 3-5 and 2-4 in the league. Here are five takeaways from Tennessee football’s huge win.

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