Thanks to both Tennessee and South Carolina securing big victories over the weekend, their annual conference match-up won’t be in the noon kick-off slot next weekend.
The Vols (2-4, 1-2 SEC) and South Carolina (3-3, 2-2 SEC) will kick-off at 4:00 PM Eastern on Saturday, October 26th in Neyland Stadium. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.
Tennessee picked up their first SEC win of the season on Saturday, defeating Mississippi State 20-10 thanks to a swarming defensive effort. The Vols picked off three passes, totaled seven sacks and 10 tackles for loss, and held the Bulldogs without a touchdown until midway through the fourth quarter. The Vols’ offense was conservative, but they got the job done, totaling 190 rushing yards and getting solid play from Jarrett Guarantano at quarterback in relief of Brian Maurer after he suffered a concussion in the second quarter.
South Carolina, meanwhile, got one of their biggest wins in program history over the weekend.
The Gamecocks pulled off a major upset over No. 3 Georgia, winning 20-17 in double-overtime. South Carolina picked off Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm three times after Fromm hadn’t thrown a single interception in the Bulldogs’ previous five games. Starting quarterback Ryan Hilinski suffered a leg injury in the game, but it’s expected he’ll be able to play for the Gamecocks this upcoming weekend and when they travel to Knoxville as well.
Before Tennessee hosts South Carolina, they have to take on No. 1 Alabama in Tuscaloosa in a 9:00 PM kick-off this weekend. South Carolina, meanwhile, hosts No. 9 Florida for a noon kick-off this upcoming Saturday.
South Carolina has won three-straight games against the Vols, and Tennessee is winless against Gamecocks head coach Will Muschamp. The Vols never beat Muschamp while he was head coach at Florida, and they’ve yet to get a win against him while he’s been the head coach at South Carolina either.
Last season, Tennessee lost 27-24 on the road to the Gamecocks in a back-and-forth game. The previous season, UT fell 15-9 at home in Jarrett Guarantano’s first start at quarterback for the Vols. Tennessee lost 24-21 coming off a bye week in 2016, and that game ended up costing UT a chance at winning the SEC East.
Dating back to the Vols-Gamecocks match-up in 2012, every game in the series over the last seven years has been decided by one score. Every game except for the 2017 match-up has been decided by three points or less in that span.
All-time, the Vols are 25-10-2 against South Carolina, but the Gamecocks have won six of the last nine contests between the two schools. Since 2005, South Carolina has gone 8-6 against Tennessee after losing 12-straight games to the Vols from 1993 till 2004.
