The South Carolina Gamecocks traveled to Knoxville, Tennessee on Saturday to face the University of Tennessee Volunteers.
South Carolina (3-4) and Tennessee (2-4) were both in desperate need of a win, with the winner having a strong case for a bowl game at the end of the season. In the end, Tennessee wanted the win more than South Carolina and took it with an astonishing 20-point win, 41-21.
To open the game, Ryan Hilinski threw a pass to Shi Smith who took it 75 yards to put the first up the first score, 7-0 with just 51 seconds off the clock. Tennessee put three on the board when Brent Camelia kicked a 46-yard field goal with 7:19 left in the first quarter, which turned out to be all of the scoring during the opening 15.
The first South Carolina possession of the second quarter yielded a punt return touchdown for the Volunteers, as Marquez Callaway took it all the way to the endzone for a 65-yard touchdown. With just over three minutes to go in the half, the Gamecocks retook the lead on a Mon Denson one-yard rushing score.
Tennessee answered with a touchdown after Jimmy Guarantano connected with Jauan Jennings for 48 yards before the Gamecocks answered with a touchdown of their own in their final drive of the half, when Tavien Feaster rushed in another one-yard score and give South Carolina the lead 21-17 going into halftime.
The second half was all Tennessee. A first Volunteers touchdown was a result of a 19-yard touchdown pass from Guarantano to Jennings for the score and taking back the lead with 8:16 left in the third quarter, 24-21. In the next Tennessee touchdown, JT Shrout threw a complete pass to Callaway for a 55-yard touchdown, widening the lead to 31-21 with just over five minutes to play.
Cimaglia kicked a 31-yard field goal to add three more to the score, 34-21 with 12:21 left to play in the game. The following Gamecocks possession, the Volunteers scored another touchdown on the punt when it was blocked by Daniel Bituli for a return of 29 yards, and extended the lead by 20 points, 41-21 with under 12 minutes to play in the game. This would end up being the final.
The Volunteers won their first game against Coach Will Muschamp in seven years, three years as the head coach at South Carolina and as the head coach at the University of Florida for the four years prior. Tennessee fans were just as excited about winning against Muschamp as they were about winning the matchup between the two teams.
Tennessee will play at home again next week, this time facing Auburn while South Carolina will play Vanderbilt in its homecoming game next Saturday.
Got our vote ✅ https://t.co/EuCHNPToSZ
— Gamecock Football (@GamecockFB) October 26, 2019
