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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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From left, Tennessee linebacker Solon Page III (38), defensive back Trevon Flowers (1), and linebacker Aaron Beasley (24) celebrate a fumble recovery against South Carolina in the NCAA college football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the South Carolina Gamecocks in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, October 9, 2021.Utvsc1007
From left, Tennessee linebacker Solon Page III (38), defensive back Trevon Flowers (1), and linebacker Aaron Beasley (24) celebrate a fumble recovery against South Carolina in the NCAA college football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the South Carolina Gamecocks in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, October 9, 2021.Utvsc1007 /

2. Turnover battle favors Vols once again.

We could have tied this into two other slides. Obviously, turnovers has a lot to do with the aggression of a defense. At the same time, committing no turnovers has a lot to do with no miscues, which ties into our first slide about penalties.

However, given what Tennessee football was doing early in the year, winning the turnover battle like this was huge on Saturday. The Vols had a major fumbling problem early in the season, and losing the turnover battle cost them against the Pittsburgh Panthers. Now, though, their high-powered offense comes with taking care of the ball.

For the third straight week, Rocky Top has committed no turnovers. More importantly, though, they forced two turnovers on the other side. One came in the first quarter. South Carolina was driving and brought up a 2nd and goal from the 2-yard line. They called a trick play, as Luke Doty threw a backward pass to Jordan Burch, and Burch threw it into the end zone.

Jaylen Mccollough intercepted that pass, though, to kill a 10-play 73-yard drive. On the next drive, Aaron Beasley recovered a fumbled snap. UT scored touchdowns off of both turnovers, and that was a huge difference in the game. As a result, it deserved a slide on its own.

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