First Glance: South Carolina

Coming off a monster win on the road at Missouri, Tennessee now looks towards South Carolina as the Gamecocks travel to Neyland Stadium Saturday as double-digit underdogs.

A lot went right for the Volunteers in Columbia. The team powered its way to nearly 700 yards of total offense, ran for over 450 yards and Hendon Hooker continued to look sharp, connecting on a couple of down-the-field passes for touchdowns.

Tennessee’s offensive boasted eight explosive plays and didn’t commit a turnover – all with only two penalties in the ballgame. Defensively, the Vols forced two turnovers and held both Connor Bazelak and Tyler Badie in check – a task that hasn’t come lightly this season for opponents.

But that’s in the past now and the Volunteers must leave it there.

“I’m excited that we got the result that we did, but at the same time, as we walk in the building on a Monday, it’s about how can we get better,” Josh Heupel said opening his Monday press conference. “The challenge is always going to be how good can we be as fast as we can.

‘We’ve got a big test this week with South Carolina. It’s a good football team when you look at how they’ve played inside the conference against two really quality opponents. We have to do a great job running the football and being balanced. Defensively, we have to control and dominate the line of scrimmage.”

Looking to feed off the momentum of the 38-point victory, Tennessee now preps for a South Carolina unit that’s 3-2 on the year and winless in Southeastern Conference play.

It impressed with an opening day blowout over Eastern Illinois before escaping East Carolina with a three-point victory in week two. Georgia pummeled South Carolina three weeks ago, but the Gamecocks bounced back for a six-point loss against Kentucky a week later.

Saturday, it wasn’t pretty, but Shane Beamer’s club held off Troy in the second half for the 23-14 win.

“College football is a game of 12 weeks but it’s a one-week season every week. If you try to compare and contrast scores from every single week, none of it’s going to make sense,” Heupel said. “It’s about your same competitive spirit, your competitive composure, when you get out there and it’s about the process leading up to kickoff. If we continue to grow in that, it will lend us to better and better results as we go through the season.”

Offensive Coordinator Marcus Satterfield starts from a base pro-style offense, but is looking to push the ball down field. He’s spent much of his coaching tenure with Matt Rhule at Temple, Baylor and with the Carolina Panthers last year - where offensive coordinator Joe Brady was of major influence as well.

After missing the first two games with injury, sophomore Luke Doty was forced into action at Georgia three weeks ago when graduate assistant coach – emergency quarterback – Zeb Noland went down. The second-year player is still finding his footing of late, completing just 58 percent of his passes, but has accounted for three touchdowns since with 566 yards through the air.

Doty was on track to start the season-opener before a foot injury in camp sidelined him for about a month.

Junior tailback Kevin Harris has been a letdown thus far in the run game with just 142 yards on 46 carries. Freshman JuJu McDowell has contributed 146 yards on 33 attempts, while redshirt senior Zaquandre White has been the lone running back to find the end zone this season to go along with a team-high 167 yards on the ground on only22 carries.

Senior wideout Josh Vann, who also has a couple of carries on the year, paces the squad with 343 yards and two touchdowns on 16 receptions. He’s clearly the deep threat while averaging 21 yards a catch. Jalen Brooks has added 155 yards and a touchdown on 11 receptions while Dakereon Joyner and EJ Jenkins have hauled in a touchdown reception, too.

In what was supposed to be a strong point of emphasis on the offensive side of the football this year, the tight ends have not accounted for much offense to date. Fifth-year senior Nick Muse has a touchdown, but only eight receptions in five games. Sophomore Jaheim Bell is used as well – a touchdown on six catches for 102 yards on the season.

Overall, Beamer’s offense has managed just 22 points game with an average of 329 yards. It’s a fairly balanced unit, throwing for 207 yards while rushing for 121 yards an outing. South Carolina possesses the football for a little over 30 minutes a contest, has committed nine turnovers, allowed 12 sacks and converted on 35 percent of third down opportunities.

“We’ve got to do a great job of dominating the line of scrimmage. That’s going to be critical in this football game,” Heupel said in preparing for the Gamecock offense. “We’ve got to force them into third and long situations.

“We’ve got to be able to play really good third down defense. That can be a base four [man] down, bringing pressure or drop eight, too. I didn’t think we executed early in the football game the way we are capable of on third down.”

South Carolina has converted on just seven of 25 third downs in its past two outings versus Troy and Kentucky.

Defensively, coordinator Clayton White operates out of a base 4-2-5 and the unit has been respectable thus far, acknowledging that three games have been played outside of the Power 5 landscape.

The Gamecocks surrender 17 points a contest with an average of 301 yards to the opposing offense. They’ve allowed teams to throw for 160 yards, rush for 141 yards and hold on to the ball for 29 minutes a contest.

Opponents are converting on 39 percent of third down opportunities while the defense has forced an impressive 15 turnovers in five games with 10 sacks and 23 tackles for loss.

“They’ve been really good up front and have created turnovers,” Heupel said of South Carolina’s defense. “They attack the football. We’ve got to do a good job of taking care of it [football]. The last two weeks, it’s been important and we’ve done a good job.

“We can be more consistent and better with the football in our hands.”

Free safety Jaylon Foster is one of the better stories in football. The super senior is a former walk-on who was put on scholarship last season. He’s leading the South Carolina defense in tackles (39) and interceptions (4) while also forcing two fumbles with a recorded sack on the season.

Davis Spaulding, who starts at nickelback (STAR), registered a 74-yard pick-6 Saturday against Troy while cornerbacks Darius Rush and Cam Smith have combined for one interception and five pass breakups in five games. Strong Safety RJ Roderick has forced a pair of fumbles to date.

In the middle of the 4-2-5 scheme are linebackers Brad Johnson and Damani Staley. The two are second and third on the team in tackles, respectfully. Johnson has two sacks with a fumble recovery on the season while Staley has picked off two passes.

Up front, preseason All-SEC edge player Kingsley Enagbare needs to be blocked. Defensive tackles Zacch Pickens, Jordan Burch and Jabari Ellis have also made some noise up front. The unit averages about two sacks a game.

You can never live in the past during SEC play. The schedule won’t allow it. But, Tennessee can take the positives and the confidence gained from Saturday and apply it to the slate moving forward.

“The result is awesome because of the work that’s being put in. Sometimes, that’s not recognizable by fans or the TV audience. Then process, as we continue to grow in it, should lend to more consistent performances.

“Absolutely, the performance from the other day should create some buy-in from players and trust in what we are trying to do as a football staff in everything we’re doing.”