Another day, another close game for the Tennessee Volunteers. But this time, the football gods favored the Vols as they escaped with a 24-27 victory over South Carolina Saturday night. From start to finish, we saw several things of interest. But strictly for time’s sake, we have narrowed down the five most notable observations from the game.
Strong start, slow finish: To start the game, Tennessee made scoring look easy. Really, they made everything look easy on both offense and defense. Whether it was Josh Dobbs, or Alvin Kamara on offense or Jalen Reeves-Maybin or Derek Barnett on defense, Tennessee had their way with South Carolina – at least in the first quarter. For some reason, Tennessee struggled to keep the momentum going on offense. Jalen Hurd was a wild man in the first half with 79 rushing yards, but was held to just 97 for the game. And after the first half, it looked like a different defense stepped on the field. South Carolina was able to run and throw with success in the second half, but the Vols still found a way to hang on and win so in the end, no one will really complain.
Oh, hey Von!: After all the offseason drama played out with senior receiver Von Pearson, everyone wondered if he would pick up where he left off after a promising junior season. And while the season didn’t really start the way he likely hoped, he stepped up big with 121 yards on eight receptions and a touchdown. He looked like Von Pearson of old and put a smile on Vol fans’ faces with his big game. He helped convert on several third downs and burned coverage deep for a 37-yard touchdown catch. Pearson’s performance makes the second straight week a Vol receiver has topped 100 yards and these performances will definitely be needed in the coming weeks.
Defensive line pressure: Since they played Alabama a few weeks ago, Tennessee’s defensive line has really stepped up. I’m not sure what happened to give them such a spark, but South Carolina quarterback Perry Orth can attest to the pressure he had in his face the entire game from Tennessee’s front line. Numbers wise there was only one sack (by Derek Barnett), but there were eight tackles for loss and four quarterback hurries. Obviously you’d like to see more turnovers and sacks, but don’t let the lack of big stats fool you. This defensive line has stepped up and continues to be a headache for opposing quarterbacks.
Medley’s confidence rising: Aaron Medley has made three straight field goals after missing his previous three against Alabama. He hit from 44 against Kentucky and twice against the Gamecocks from 44 and 27 – the latter being the go-ahead score to seal Tennessee’s victory. Medley’s season has been something of a surprising head-scratcher after being so successful as a freshman. And just about everyone wonders how different the game against Alabama would have been if he hits even one of his attempts. Nonetheless, Medley has been solid in his last three attempts and appears to be back on track.
Another targeting: After Emmanuel Moseley was ejected in the second half of last week’s game against Kentucky, the secondary had to prepare to play without him for the first half against South Carolina. Fast forward to the second quarter of Saturday night’s game and Brian Randolph is called for targeting after laying the lumber on South Carolina receiver Pharoh Cooper. Luckily the depth at safety includes Todd Kelly Jr. and Evan Berry – both of which are capable players (not to mention the future of the Vols secondary). But there clearly needs to be some preventative work done in practice to keep from losing any more players to targeting penalties.
