McCallan Castles wasn't on the Tennessee team that lost to South Carolina a year ago, but he's aware of it.
It's hard to escape the memory of the 62-38 loss in Columbia that knocked the Vols out of the College Football Playoff picture and marked the end of quarterback Hendon Hooker's record-shattering season last November, even for a player that wasn't a part of it.
But if Tennessee players are using that memory as motivation for its clash against the Gamecocks at Neyland Stadium on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network), it hasn't showed.
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"Obviously it didn't go the way they wanted it to last year," Castles said. "That's last year. This year, our whole goal is to be the best team on the field on Saturday, no matter who we're playing and obviously, (South Carolina) is going to be a solid SEC team, so we're trying to be better than they are on Saturday."
Being the "best team on the field" this weekend was the line players and coaches stuck to when they stood in front of the media on Monday, including Bryson Eason.
The Vols' junior defensive lineman was on that team, which allowed South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler to pass for 438 yards and six touchdowns. It would especially be easy for the Tennessee defense to prepare with at least vengeance in mind.
Rattler enters the game as one of the top quarterbacks in the SEC, completing nearly 75% of his passes. He has thrown 17 touchdowns since his last meeting against the Vols, which began a career turnaround.
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"Like we've been saying for the last four weeks, it's the biggest game because it's the next game," Eason said. "That's how we approach it. We're just ready to be the best team on the field on Saturday."
The defense has shown improvement since then. The Vols pitched a shutout against Vanderbilt the following week, then stifled Clemson in the Orange Bowl before returning nearly all of its production this season.
Outside of the first half of its 29-16 loss at Florida and the third quarter vs. UTSA, the Vols have been stout defensively, limiting opponents to 190.8 passing yards per game, which ranks fourth in the conference.
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Getting to the quarterback has helped. Tennessee has accounted for 16 sacks and 33 tackles for loss, both of which are top five nationally. Rattler will present the Vols' biggest quarterback challenge to date.
"Just make sure that we keep him contained and stay disciplined and do our job," Eason said. "Just do what we do and just try to be disruptive and go out there and have fun with my guys...but do our job, of course. Just go out there and play loose, play free, play fast.
"Just do our best that we can do to disrupt Spencer Rattler and get him off his game to make is easier for everybody else."
Containing Rattler is the obvious key, but containing emotions may count for just as much, even if Tennessee is just downplaying last year's result and whatever added motivation it yielded.
"It's a new week every week. It's a new year, every year, too," head coach Josh Heupel said. "Last year, they were more physical than us, they competed harder than we did on that night. We didn't handle the environment the right way. Those were lessons that had to continue to move forward with us as a program. Last year has nothing to do with this week.
"We just have to focus on our preparation and be ready to have a great competitive spirit for four quarters."
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