No. 5 Tennessee’s magical season came to a halt Saturday night at the hands of South Carolina behind the Vols’ worst defensive performance of the season among other mistakes.
Every team in the CFP top-5 struggled Saturday, but only one fell – the Vols. Now Tennessee will have to put its best foot forward and take on Vanderbilt before preparing for whatever bowl game it draws.
“We didn’t coach or play well,” head coach Josh Heupel said. “Anybody involved.”
Here are three takeaways from the Vols’ embarrassing 63-38 loss.
5-for-5
5-for-5 is a stat that will haunt Tennessee and its fans for a long time. South Carolina had five drives in the first half (minus the drive to let the clock run down at the end of the half) and scored on all of them.
The Vols weren’t out of the game in the first half, but it certainly felt like it. The Gamecocks – who scored just six points the game before – were having their way with Tennessee, especially its secondary.
“I felt like we would have an opportunity to matchup out there,” Heupel said. “We played man. We played zone. Tim (Banks) tried to find an answer to it and at the end of the day, we didn’t.”
The Vols went into the half trailing 35-24. The 11-point deficit felt insurmountable.
Rattler’s career day
Gamecocks’ quarterback Spencer Rattler has had a shaky college football career. After transferring to South Carolina this season, he’s had a forgettable start.
That was, until Saturday.
Rattler had thrown just eight touchdowns on the year before Saturday. He had six alone on Saturday. He also racked up 448 passing yards, besting his previous season-high by 61 yards.
“Spencer is a talented guy, right?” Heupel said. “At times, when he had gotten hot, he plays hot. And tonight, he was.”
The performance was great, there is no doubt about that, but it was a result of a Tennessee defense that looked lost and helpless.
The Vols’ secondary has been one of their only weak places this season, and on Saturday, it cost them a trip to the CFP.
“For us and this program, this one needs to hurt on the way back,” Heupel said. “And it needs to hurt the guys that aren’t on this trip that will be in our building tomorrow afternoon and be there on Monday. For us to grow as a program, you have to look at this opportunity and understand what happened.”
Hooker goes down
If Saturday couldn’t get worse, Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker – who has already solidified his place in Tennessee history – went down with what seemed to be a knee injury in the fourth quarter.
Heupel didn’t provide an update on the injury, but anyone watching the game could tell you it didn’t look good. An update will likely come early next week, but the chances of Hooker suiting up again this season seem low.
Now backup quarterback Joe Milton will likely step up as the Vols’ quarterback. The Michigan transfer started at the beginning of last season, but soon lost the job to Hooker. Milton will likely return to Tennessee next season, and getting some reps in late this season could serve him well.
