Four Takeaways for Tennessee From the Crushing Loss to South Carolina

Tennessee's crushing loss to South Carolina, settled by a late field goal, is the subject of a four-part takeaways look at what the defeat showed about the Volunteers. South Carolina stunned No. 11 Tennessee, with a LaNorris Sellers touchdown and a walk-off field goal forming the decisive sequence in the upset.

A loss decided at the end invites a harder look at everything that came before the final kick. When a ranked team falls on a walk-off play, the margin for error across the whole game comes into focus, from the plays that set up the finish to the inability to close it out.

For Tennessee, the takeaways from this one center on recovery. The Volunteers leave with a defeat to a South Carolina team that finished the job in the final moments, and the response in the games ahead will show how much this setback lingers.