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Tennessee Stat Book
COLUMBIA, S.C. - The injury report should have said it all.
Sore knees, ankles and the like were all supposed to prevent Tennessee's defense from containing South Carolina. However, there was no questioning the Vols' heart on a makeshift, banged up defensive line.
The Vols held the Gamecocks to 255 yards on Saturday in Williams-Brice Stadium, eventually losing 27-6.
The score didn't tell the story for UT's defense. Mistakes on offense and special teams essentially handed South Carolina 17 points.
"I'm proud of the effort we got," defensive coordinator John Chavis said. "We do have some guys that are beat up pretty good, but that's football and that's what happens in the SEC.
"Our guys sucked it up and played and played hard."
Chavis said four or five players were at questionable or worse before the game.
Defensive tackles Dan Williams (ankle), Andre Mathis (elbow), Walter Fisher (toe) and defensive end Wes Brown (knee) were some of the notables. All played.
Williams registered four tackles, 1/2 for a loss, and batted a ball at the line of scrimmage. Mathis and Fisher recorded a tackle. Brown turned in a 6-yard sack.
"That tells you a lot about this football team," Chavis said. "That tells you this team hasn't thrown the towel in. Our guys showed up when really and truly they didn't have to (because of injuries)."
That, Chavis said, wasn't a surprise.
"These guys have been good character guys all along," he said. "That's what you expect."
More Laundry: UT was whistled for three penalties Saturday night, well below the seven it committed last week against Alabama.
Those penalties still hurt, though.
An offside penalty against Demetrice Morley on a South Carolina field-goal attempt allowed the Gamecocks a fourth-and-1 they converted.
And an illegal-formation penalty, caused by offensive lineman Ramone Johnson, negated a first down play in the fourth quarter by Lucas Taylor.
All told, the Vols were hit for 15 yards on three penalties.
South Carolina committed three for 35 yards, however Tennessee declined a handful of other penalties.
At It Again: Eric Berry recorded his 11th career interception in the third quarter, and his 45-yard return moved him to 442 career interception return yards.
Before the ball was snapped, both Brown and South Carolina offensive lineman Justin Sorensen appeared to move. However officials did not throw a flag, which allowed Berry's return to stand.
Berry already set the SEC's career record in a victory over Mississippi State.
Career Kick: Punter Britton Colquitt boomed a 71-yard kick in the fourth quarter that pinned Carolina at its 3-yard line.
The kick was a career long, replacing his previous record of 64 yards as a freshman against Notre Dame.
Mocky Top: Late in the fourth quarter, a pocket of South Carolina fans in the upper deck began singing "Rocky Top" after the Gamecocks recovered a fumble at the Tennessee 14-yard line.
Cold Cook: South Carolina tight end Jared Cook did not catch a pass through the first three quarters.
Cook entered the game as Carolina's leading receiver with 460 yards on 31 receptions.
Saturday marked the first time Cook hasn't had at least two receptions in a game all season.
Shutout Streak Avoided: By virtue of its third-quarter touchdown, Tennessee avoided its first shutout since a 31-0 loss to Florida in 1994.
Career Long For Rogers: Receiver Austin Rogers' 49-yard reception on the first play of the second half was a career long.
Rogers finished with a season-high 72 yards on three catches.
Vanderbilt 93, Tennessee 79, Feb. 9…
Signing day celebration at Neyland…
Notre Dame beats Tennessee 72-44…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 11
TheMagician writes:
tough loss..
poof!
WeLoveTennesseeVols writes:
Thanks boys, and men, for playing with your injuries. You all play ed a good game, too bad we didn't win one fo rus. Don't worry about it. Life will go on. We learn more about winning by losing so don't take it personally, just take it to heart. Study hard, make good friends, have a ministry and play a role in government in your community, state, and country. Jesus loves us more than we hate ourselves. Our day will come, and it will be hard to remember what it was like to lose games, and the victories will be much, much more sweeter because we have lost these games. You may or may not win any more games this year, but there is always next year. Something people in other countries sometimes don't the luxury of hoping for. We have a great country , we have a great university, and great coaches. Don't throw them away just to please yourselves. You do not owe the recalcitrant fan anything. We are either for you or against you, do not become divided over winning or losing. PS you know when someone named "the magician" writes poof, then you know there's plenty of room at th e top.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Ninth game and we still can't line up correctly.
Pretty much says it all.
208 Vol Football - R.I.P.
hueypilot writes:
Don't mean to diminish what the defense did but it was obvious to Spurrier and anyone who was watching or listening that we didn't have enough offense to be any kind of serious threat so for the last twenty minutes Spurrier was content to run clock and a few times even ran on obvious passing downs, particularly after the Berry Int (where we were clearly offsides and didn't get caught).
Have you ever seen Spurrier play so conservatively? If they had kept pushing they might have scored once or twice more. Point is, the anemic offense will not allow us to overcome any kind of lead. Granted Florida, Alabama, Georgia and SC have good defenses, but this offense is the most disfunctional bunch I have ever seen on the hill and nearly as pitiful as some of those 9 and 10 loss Vanderbilt teams.
nicksjuzunk#646117 writes:
Why to fight through the injuries boys! At least we can beat Wyoming!
rockydog writes:
I don't think anyone thinks this defense is great. I do think the vast majority of fans truly appreciate their consistent effort and heart. You are correct in that they don't have any depth. That is what makes their effort through injuries and knowing if the other team scores 10 points the game is over that much better. Look at the stats from last night. How many times did SC start with good or great field position? Too many times thanks to our offense. They are constantly playing with their backs against the wall. Eventually something is going to give. If our offense showed as much heart as our defense, we would be over .500 right now.
rockydog writes:
wlvol-
Just to clarify: I am no Fulmer supporter. The game last night made me want to vomit. It is a tremendous shame that this team isn't performing any better than it is. UT lost two main guys last year: Eric Ainge and Jerod Mayo. Other than that, the team is basically the same except for being more experienced. I don't think we were great last year, but were years ahead of this version. What changed? Did two players really make that much difference? I think Cutcliffe left and took the offensive discipline with him. That's what changed. I don't know what these current coaches are doing, but it isn't working. It is way past time for a fresh start.
hooverd283#563729 writes:
I'll take heart and effort into any fight. This defense is overall less talented than teams in the past but they play hard and with good effort each and every play. Chavis should be commended for his effort as well as this defensive team. MAN if we only had players on offense who would/could play together or at least have the heart this defense has. The offensive propblems are not the result of poor coaching. It's attitude,commitment and .....talent
jack_2222#231746 writes:
At least in this game, it was only special teams guys who were laughing and cutting up on the sidelines. Guess they just have a different perspective than all these upset fans.
cagsr writes:
Nice article, you just left out a few facts. Berry's "interception" happened when tenn was clearly offside and should have been negated. 2 SC players got hurt just because the refs were trying to keep tenn in the game. The play where the qb was blindsided was clearly a fumble, but once again the refs acted like they could not see it.
mmynatt writes:
The year is playing out like I thought it would after watching them get beat by UCLA and seeing the offense play the first 3 or 4 games. They beat the one team I thought they would; now they have a chance to beat Ky simply because they have had so many injuries. But Vandy will beat them. The Vols do not deserve to go to a bowl game anyway. Very sad indeed.
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