Tennessee Rallies From 14 Down to Tie South Carolina 14-14 in Second Quarter
No. 11 Tennessee fell behind by two touchdowns in the first quarter at South Carolina on Saturday, then fought back to tie the game 14-14 in the second quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia. The Volunteers, 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the SEC, came in off a 26-10 win over Alabama and looking to continue a College Football Playoff push, while the Gamecocks, 3-3 and 1-3 in the league, were coming off a bye week. Kickoff was at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.
South Carolina won the toss, took the opening kickoff, and drove 75 yards to open the scoring on an 18-yard touchdown pass from LaNorris Sellers to Mazeo Bennett. After Tennessee went three-and-out, the Gamecocks struck again almost immediately, with Sellers throwing for 27 yards on first down and then running 31 yards for a touchdown on the next play. With 8:17 left in the first quarter, the Vols were already down 14-0.
Tennessee's answer was a marathon 18-play, 75-yard drive that took nine minutes and ended early in the second quarter with DeSean Bishop scoring from a yard out. Bishop carried 11 times for 51 yards on the drive, starting it with a 20-yard run, and the Vols overcame a long touchdown pass to DaSaahn Brame that was called back by penalty along the way. The defense then produced a tackle for loss and an interception to give the ball back at the South Carolina 28, and 10 plays later Brame scored on a 1-yard run on fourth-and-goal to tie the game with 8:06 left in the half.
The meeting was the first between the teams since 2023, when Tennessee won 41-20 in Knoxville, and Tennessee leads the all-time series 27-11-2. The Vols' last trip to Columbia, in 2022, ended in a 63-38 South Carolina win, which made the early hole on Saturday feel familiar. Tennessee entered as a 2.5-point underdog with a total of 50.5, and with a bye week next week before closing the regular season against Kentucky, LSU, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt, avoiding an upset loss on the road matters directly to the Vols' playoff position.