The Vols aren’t taking this week’s game against the South Carolina Gamecocks for granted.
The Volunteer-Gamecock rivalry is one that almost always goes to the wire. Vol players, especially senior quarterback Joshua Dobbs, remember the matchup two years ago.
In Dobbs’ first start of the 2014 season, the Vols found themselves down 42-28 with less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter. With a total of five touchdowns from Dobbs, the Vols miraculously pulled off the comeback in overtime 45-42.
Tennessee (5-2, 2-2 SEC) looks to play a complete game this week against South Carolina (3-4, 1-4). In previous games this season, Tennessee has started slow and managed to scrape by in the final minutes. The team wants to improve on this in order to give themselves a better chance for victory.
No player understands this more than Dobbs.
“We’re gonna go out and compete for 60 minutes,” Dobbs said. “We have to lock in from start to finish and can’t have any mental lapses. We just have to play a complete game of football.”
Perhaps the largest obstacle preventing the Vols from playing to their full potential has been injuries. This season has been filled with them. A total of 18 players from the Vols roster have missed at least one game this season due to an injury.
Although most could understand how injuries impact a team’s performance, defensive tackle Kendal Vickers has a different perspective.
No excuses.
“It’s next man up,” Vickers said. “I gotta be a leader in the interior ‘cause I am an older guy in there. I gotta make sure the young guys are doing what they need to do on and off the field so that they’re ready for the game.”
Vickers believes that the key to moving past these injuries is confidence. When asked at what point do all these injuries really start to become a problem, Vickers responded definitively.
“The guys that are coming up have the confidence to step up and play the role they are playing,” he said. “We don’t have anyone on the team that lacks confidence. I think it is next man up and I don’t think it will be a problem.”
This game is of extreme importance regarding the Vols’ SEC Championship hopes. Currently, Tennessee sits third in the SEC East with a conference record of 2-2. In second is Kentucky, who is 3-2 and then Florida who leads at 3-1.
The Vols will need to win the rest of their conference games as well as hope for a Florida SEC loss in order to reach the conference championship.
Todd Kelly Jr. believes his team is capable of doing so.
“I still think we have the possibility of being the best team in our conference,” Kelly Jr. said. “It all starts with winning one game at a time. We know that if we play our best football that we can continue to play in the postseason. The next game is the most important game.”
The Volunteers will play the Gamecocks this Saturday in South Carolina. The Vols are coming off a bye week and have had plenty of rest heading into the weekend.
