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Tennessee football at South Carolina: Prediction and betting odds for Week 12 college football

By Caleb Calhoun

Nov 25, 2017; Columbia, SC, USA; General view of before the game between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Clemson Tigers at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 25, 2017; Columbia, SC, USA; General view of before the game between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Clemson Tigers at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports /
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Two road games to close out the regular season are on the plate for Tennessee football as they try to remain in the College Football Playoff hunt, and the toughest of those comes this weekend. The Vols, 9-1 and ranked No. 5 in both polls, will visit the South Carolina Gamecocks, who are 6-4.

It’s a matchup between two second-year head coaches in Josh Heupel and Shane Beamer. Every game in this series was within one score from 2012 to 2018. However, the Vols won in blowouts in 2019 and 2021, and they have won three straight against South Carolina overall.

Still, Tennessee football hasn’t beaten them on the road by more than one score since 2004, which was also the last time before this year that they beat the Florida Gators and Alabama Crimson Tide. While UT comes in off a 66-24 win over the Missouri Tigers, South Carolina comes in off a 38-6 loss to Florida.

Tennessee Volunteers at South Carolina betting odds

In spite of this series historically being close, particularly at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C., Tennessee football is a 21.5-point favorite according to WynnBET. The moneyline is Tennessee -2210 and South Carolina +1000, and the over/under is set at 66.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change

Tennessee Volunteers at South Carolina prediction

Last year’s game was a 45-20 beatdown by the Vols, and it wasn’t even that close. South Carolina is better this year, and as we mentioned, they play UT a lot tougher at home. On the other hand, though, it’s safe to say Rocky Top is much better as well.

Beamer is somewhat familiar with Heupel’s offense, as he coached under Lincoln Riley with the Oklahoma Sooners from 2018 to 2020. Riley runs a similar offense. He was also with the Georgia Bulldogs in 2016 and 2017 when Heupel was offensive coordinator of the Missouri Tigers, so they faced each other twice.

Still, there’s not much to gauge from any of that since Beamer was coaching special teams and offensive positions, so it’s not like he went head to head against Heupel schematically. All we really have to go on is last year, the history of this series and what they’ve done this year.

Given the fact that crowd noise by the Georgia Bulldogs got to Tennessee football, there might be a concern about what South Carolina’s fans will bring to the table for a Saturday night showdown. However, a few crucial differences will neutralize that.

For starters, the Vols are more prepared because they faced Georgia. More importantly, though, is the fact that South Carolina’s run defense is horrendous, and that’ll allow UT to really get its offense going, which they weren’t able to do in Athens, Ga., at Sanford Stadium.

Next. Five key Vols to watch for at South Carolina. dark

As a result, Tennessee football will have its way with South Carolina. Take Tennessee -21.5 easily. Their offense will be in full force, so the Over 66 is a good bet too. Only dominance on special teams will help South Carolina keep it close, and UT has gotten better on that front. The score will look something like this: Tennessee 52 South Carolina 20.

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