For his next act, coach Steve Spurrier will round up some of the best high school players in Knox County, take them to Neyland Stadium and beat the Vols.

Or maybe he will take a dozen stadium vendors, a handful of ushers, and a few cheerleaders, then beat the Vols with them.

Spurrier upset the Vols when he was at Duke. He embarrassed them when he was the head coach at Florida.

He upset and embarrassed them in a 16-15 victory Saturday night at Neyland Stadium.

Remember those 48 unanswered points Spurrier’s Gators scored on the Vols in 1995? Or the 35 consecutive points his Gators scored in the first 20 minutes of the 1996 game at Neyland Stadium?

Those were fender benders compared to Saturday night’s crash. In fact, this qualifies as the all-time low for the Phillip Fulmer era at UT. How fitting that his all-time nemesis orchestrated the disaster.

And how ironic that former UT quarterback Peyton Manning was in the house.

Manning couldn’t beat the Gators in four games and three starts as the Vols quarterback. Eight years after his last UT game, he couldn’t bring them any luck as their guest of honor.

UT retired Manning’s No. 16 in pregame ceremonies. South Carolina then beat the Vols with 16 points.

You can’t comprehend the magnitude of the loss unless you know a little something about the winners.

South Carolina lost by 23 points to Alabama and by 41 to Auburn. It ranks 111th in the country in rushing and 85th in rushing defense.

There’s more.

The Gamecocks start two walk-ons on offense. They lost arguably their best player, wide receiver/quarterback/running back Syvelle Newton, to a season-ending injury last week.

Their injury situation only got worse against the Vols. They lost two more wide receivers — Carlos Thomas and Noah Whiteside — to game-ending injuries in the first half.

With all that stacked against them, the Gamecocks would have to play a mistake-free game to have a chance, right?

Not hardly. They lost two fumbles and threw an interception in the first half. They were penalized 10 times.

Quarterback Blake Mitchell sometimes seemed oblivious to the 25-second clock. His supporting cast didn’t always have enough players on the line of scrimmage.

Making mistakes like that against a nationally ranked team doesn’t just get you beat. It gets you beat badly.

But not this time. Not with Spurrier. Not against a UT team whose national ranking was just an illusion.

You might have been looking at UT as a team that’s only a few tough losses from an unbeaten season. It’s time to rethink that. If not for an amazing second-half comeback against LSU and a seven-point victory over UAB, the Vols could be 1-5.

Don’t laugh. That’s the reality of it.

And don’t snicker when someone mentions the Independence or Music City Bowl, either. You can no longer assume this team is going to any bowl.

Imagine Vanderbilt and UT playing on Nov. 19 with a winning season and bowl bid on the line. It’s that bad, folks.

In preseason, UT was being compared to the 1998 national championship team. Now, it can be compared to the 1988 team that went 5-6.

Fulmer said what has happened is "not acceptable." He said, "We’re gonna go back to work and get it turned around."

The obvious response to that is "When?" Next week? Next season?

Before this program gets better, the man in charge has to understand the depths to which it has sunk. He has to revaluate his staff and his players. But self-evaluation is even more crucial.

UT’s preseason expectations didn’t emanate merely from media hype. Fulmer told anyone who would listen how talented this team was. It’s one thing for the media not to recognize a team’s flaws. But when the head coach is that wrong about a team, it doesn’t inspire confidence that next week or next season will be any better.

This isn’t the first time a Fulmer team has fallen short of high expectations. But it has never fallen this far or hard.

In the past, the Vols usually found a way to stave off an upstart like South Carolina. In tight games against inferior teams, they seemed either lucky or resourceful.

Not anymore. Opponents know the Vols can be had. Just hang around until they find a way to lose.

Arian Foster, who ran superbly in his first start, fumbled the ball into the South Carolina end zone. Wide receiver Chris Hannon missed what should have been a touchdown pass from Erik Ainge in the same end zone. Quarterback Rick Clausen threw an awful pass for an interception, which led to South Carolina’s first touchdown.

The Vols can’t count on anybody — quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers or linemen — on offense. And as good as their defense has been most of the season, it has faltered in the fourth quarter against Georgia, Alabama and now South Carolina.

The Gamecocks have one big-time receiving threat, redshirt freshman Sidney Rice. Guess who beat the UT secondary for both touchdowns?

That’s just what you would expect from a Spurrier team. He always finds a way to get the ball to his playmakers.

UT knows that better than anybody.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.