Tennessee football earned its first SEC win of the season Saturday night by knocking off South Carolina 41-20 in Knoxville. Kamal Hadden’s late first half pick six gave Tennessee a two-possession lead and they never looked back.
Here are five critical moments in Tennessee’s win at South Carolina
Jaylen Wright Opens The Scoring
One of my three keys for Tennessee to defeat South Carolina was to start fast. The Vols forced South Carolina to punt on the opening drive of the game and followed it up with perhaps their best drive of the night.
Tennessee went 94 yards on nine plays leaning on its ground game as it would the entire game. Jaylen Wright ran for 63 yards on the Vols’ opening drive capped off by a 42-yard touchdown run.
The Vols set the tone for how they’d run the ball all night and they got the fast start they needed to put South Carolina on its heels.
Joe Milton’s Big Mistake
South Carolina cut Tennessee’s lead to 7-3 before the Vols’ second drive and that’s when Joe Milton III made his biggest mistake of the night.
Milton forced a pass over the middle on third-and-long and hit South Carolina safety DQ Smith between the numbers. It was a bad decision and bad interception that gave the Gamecocks the ball at the Tennessee 29-yard line.
South Carolina fully capitalized as Rattler dove into the end zone six plays later to give South Carolina its first and only lead of the game.
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Tennessee’s Quick Strike Response
Credit Tennessee, anytime South Carolina got any momentum they quickly answered the bell.
Josh Heupel’s offense answered South Carolina’s first lead of the game with a quick strike. The Vols went 75 yards on four plays to reclaim the lead.
Jabari Small ran for 21 yards on the first play of the drive and then Squirrel White made the catch of the season to set up a short Small touchdown run.
The pass to White was the explosive play Tennessee’s offense has been lacking at times this season. It was a big answer from the Vols as they quickly stymied the Gamecocks’ momentum.
Kamal Hadden Gets His Revenge
Tennessee’s defense was dominant in the second quarter but the Vols’ offense hadn’t taken advantage of their opportunities to take control of the game after Bru McCoy’s gruesome injury.
The most maligned player on Tennessee’s team answered the bell. South Carolina was backed up in its own territory facing third-and-22 with less than two minutes left in the first half. That’s when Spencer Rattler made a big mistake.
James Pearce Jr. pressure Rattler and the quarterback’s throw sailed over the intended receiver’s head into the streaking arms of Kamal Hadden who strolled into the checkerboards for a pick six.
It was a game changing pick six which gave Tennessee a two-possession lead. South Carolina never cut Tennessee’s lead to one possession after the play.
Tennessee’s Short Yardage Defense Answers The Bell
Tennessee took a three possession lead on the opening drive of the first half which seemingly put South Carolina away.
But Mario Anderson broke off a 75-yard touchdown run, Tennessee went three-and-out and South Carolina’s offense was on the move. The Gamecocks were 35 yards away from cutting Tennessee’s lead to a touchdown.
South Carolina ran off left tackle on third-and-one and Tyler Baron and freshman linebacker Jeremiah Telander made the tackle six inches short of the line of scrimmage.
It was a no doubt go for it situation and the Gamecocks kept it simple running a quarterback sneak. But Tennessee’s defensive line didn’t give an inch and South Carolina turned it over on downs.
The two-play sequence represented Tennessee’s line of scrimmage dominance and South Carolina never found any momentum the rest of the game.
