Heupel opens South Carolina week by making his team remember the 2022 disaster in Columbia

Josh Heupel wasted no time on Monday turning his team's attention from one of the program's biggest wins to one of its most painful losses. With South Carolina up next, Tennessee's head coach made sure his players heard about the 2022 trip to Columbia, where a No. 5-ranked Volunteers team was beaten 63-38 and saw its playoff hopes end.

The parallel is easy to see. Tennessee's 26-10 win over Alabama in Week 7 pushed the Vols firmly into this year's College Football Playoff chase — the same emotional high that preceded the 2022 collapse. Heupel's message was about preparation: understand the environment waiting in Columbia, understand the opponent across the line, and arrive at a physical, mental and emotional peak.

He also made clear this is not the South Carolina team its early-season form suggested. Shane Beamer's Gamecocks are playing far better of late, including a road win at Florida in which, as Heupel noted, they were strong in all three phases of the game.

Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday on ESPN. For Tennessee, the assignment is simple to state and hard to execute: treat a classic trap game with the seriousness its playoff stakes demand.