No. 21 Tennessee vs. South Carolina: The picks are in
Tennessee hosts South Carolina in a key game Saturday night. Both teams are trying to avoid an early season second loss in SEC play. For the Vols, how healthy are they? Can the manage Spencer Rattler? For South Carolina, can they slow down the Vol offense and can they manage the crowd noise? The Volquest staff weighs in with their weekly picks.
Brent’s pick
In the words of Barney Fife in Season 1, Episode 2 (The Manhunt) – this is big.
It’s a big game Saturday night. Both need to two losses to start in the SEC.
South Carolina comes in with the best quarterback play in the league, but not a lot of help around Spencer Rattler on either side of the ball. For all the talk of the Gamecock offense line struggles, their defensive struggles have been more significant.
The question is can Tennessee play with consistency for four quarters on offense and defensively can they not let Rattler and receiver Xavier Leggette make back yard plays on them.
South Carolina is comfortable with a shoot out. Is Tennessee? Vols must be able to run the ball offensively and defensively Tim Banks’ squad has to get off the field on third down.
I’m surprised that Tennessee is a double digit favorite.
To win Tennessee has to be close or hit 200 yards on the ground and they have to hit a couple of splash plays in the passing game. Defensively, they have to force field goals and Rattler has to be uncomfortable thanks to the crowd and Tennessee’s pass rush.
Tennessee 38 South Carolina 34
Austin’s pick
Big game with a bigtime atmosphere coming up tomorrow. Tennessee can’t afford a second loss in September. This game should be plenty entertaining with plenty of points.
South Carolina isn’t very good on the line of scrimmage and the Vols should be able to make plays in the trenches. Jaylen Wright needs to have a big game in my opinion and he should get plenty of opportunities. That alone would take pressure off Joe Milton,
Defensively it boils down to getting off the field and stopping Spencer Rattler. Tennessee cannot allow South Carolina to hit them with big chunk plays. A night game in Neyland with dark mode and I’m gonna take Tennessee to win but not cover.
Tennessee 34 South Carolina 27
Eric’s pick
I’ve flirted with it all week, but Saturday is a must-win game for both of these programs.
Nobody is getting fired with a loss, but to accomplish your goal set out in preseason – a win keeps those alive on Saturday. We know Tennessee has some struggles on both sides of the ball. We know the Vols’ only real challenge to date was in The Swamp. We know how that turned out.
We’re going to learn a lot about this football team on Saturday. There’s going to be ample opportunities to run the ball and there will be plenty of opportunities in the vertical passing game. Can Tennessee’s three-headed monster, led by RB1 Jaylen Wright, get after it on the ground? Can Joe Milton connect on more than just one pass down the field? The Vols need it because overall, that defense is pretty susceptible.
We know about South Carolina’s struggles on the offensive line. Tennessee will have opportunities to get to Spencer Rattler. Can the Vols finish and bring him down? That line must keep some rush integrity and not be washed or lose contain. Linebackers and secondary need to make some tackles and break down in the open field.
Tennessee is once again the better team. The Vols are playing at home. Tennessee is going dark mode and the game is a 7:30 kick. It’s going to be rowdy, and I think the Vols prevail in a close one despite the line being at double-digits all week for some reason. This is a game that an improved program in year three needs to handle. Let’s see what we got.
Tennessee 34, South Carolina 31
Grant’s pick
Josh Heupel and his coaches and players can said all the right things behind the podium this week. What happened at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia last November has nothing to do with this game or this team or the final score Saturday night. But surely that’s just talk. Surely behind closed doors the Vols have had this date circled for a while, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to put that 2022 South Carolina game behind them.
Tennessee fans certainly haven’t forgot about all that was lost at South Carolina last season and one would assume the atmosphere will reflect as much Saturday night for a ‘Dark Mode’ primetime kickoff. The Vols haven’t played four good quarters of football yet this season, but Saturday night would be an opportune time to do so.
I like Tennessee’s run game and ability to stop the run in this matchup. I like Joe Milton III to do enough to lead the offense and the defense to get enough stops.
Tennessee 47, South Carolina 30
Matt’s pick
Saturday night will be electric inside Neyland Stadium. There is no question about that. However, there are plenty of questions around this game.
For me, it comes down to can Tennessee avoid the lulls offensively and can they get off the field on third down?
Both teams are going to score points on Saturday, but if Tennessee can sustain the ground game and connect on the explosive plays in the passing game when they are there, then I like the Vols defense to get off the more times than South Carolina’s.
Offensively, I expect to see a steady dose of Jaylen Wright, Jabari Small and Dylan Sampson early on in this one. Tennessee should have success pounding the rock in this football game which should create those explosive opportunities in the passing game.
Defensively, Tennessee has to get after Spencer and make him play off-script. Rattler has played well in all phases this season for the most part, but the Vols cannot let him stand in the pocket and take shots to create chunk plays.
Rattler is going to connect with his favorite target Xavier Leggette on Saturday night. Do not expect Tennessee to shut him out, but if they can limit him, then it will be a good night inside of Neyland Stadium.
I like the Vols to get this one done on Saturday night, but I do not expect them to cover the 12-point line.
Tennessee 34, South Carolina 30
Rob’s pick
Tennessee fans are going to be out for blood on Saturday night and Neyland is going to be rocking the way that few venues in the sport are capable of.
Now, it’s going to be up to Josh Heupel’s team to take advantage of what should be a fabulous environment.
Can they do it? Vegas certainly seems to think they can, installing the Vols as a nearly two touchdown favorite.
Many Tennessee fans are squeamish about that number for one simple fact, it’s been less than a year since what looked like a mediocre South Carolina football team trounced 8-1 Tennessee 63-38 behind a mind blowing game from Rattler.
There are some familiar faces in the Tennessee secondary that had a large hand in Rattler’s 2022 heroics. Simply put, can the Vols contain Rattler and the South Carolina passing game? And by ‘contain’ I mean keep him to around 300 yards and 2-3 touchdowns.
If they can keep Rattler from just going off I like Tennessee’s chances here. The Vols should have a huge advantage against South Carolina’s offensive line and a ground game that hasn’t gotten any traction.
If Tennessee can bottle up the ground game, keep South Carolina in bad down and distance situations that will allow the pass rush to tee off on Rattler, and if that happens I like their chances.
Offensively, the chances are going to be there for Tennessee to make plays. It’s going to be on Milton to make some throws. He’s not going to need to have a huge night, but he’s got to make some plays and he has to be accurate when the situation calls for it.
Tennessee’s defense puts a ton of pressure on Rattler. The offense makes a few big plays and the ground game takes over in the second half.
Josh Heupel has never won scoring fewer than 30 points. That won’t be a problem this week.
Tennessee 41, South Carolina 24
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