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Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols’ 45-20 win vs. South Carolina

By Caleb Calhoun

Teammates swarm Tennessee running back Tiyon Evans (8) after Evans scored a touchdown during a NCAA football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the South Carolina Gamecocks at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021.Kns Tennessee South Carolina Football Bp
Teammates swarm Tennessee running back Tiyon Evans (8) after Evans scored a touchdown during a NCAA football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the South Carolina Gamecocks at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021.Kns Tennessee South Carolina Football Bp /
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Tennessee wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. (1) scores a touchdown during an NCAA college football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the South Carolina Gamecocks in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021.Kns Tennessee South Carolina Football
Tennessee wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. (1) scores a touchdown during an NCAA college football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the South Carolina Gamecocks in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021.Kns Tennessee South Carolina Football /

4. Success was once again skewed to first quarter.

A strength and a weakness for Tennessee football has been the disparity between first quarter play and every other quarter. The Vols have been one of the most dominant teams in the nation in the first quarter, ending those 15 minutes with a double digit lead in every game but one. However, they have massively slowed down after that.

This game was no different. UT jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter. That comes a week after the Vols jumped out to a 28-3 lead in the first quarter over the Missouri Tigers. Don’t forget that they had a 10-0 lead over the Pittsburgh Panthers in the first and only trailed the Florida Gators 10-7 while taking a 14-10 lead early in the second.

However, just as they did against BGSU, Pitt and Florida, they were much less successful afterward. South Carolina being able to cut the game to 38-20 after falling behind 35-0 was a huge problem, and the Vols have to find a way to maintain their early success.

At the same time, although they were outscored 20-17 after the first, that quarter counts, and these strong starts have worked well in their favor. Because of that, we can’t be too hard on them for what happened afterward, but they’ve got to figure out a way to maintain their success.

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