Tennessee rallies from 14 down to lead South Carolina 21-17 in Columbia

No. 11 Tennessee fell behind by two touchdowns early at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday, then rallied to take a 21-17 lead over South Carolina by halftime. The Volunteers, 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the SEC, kicked off at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN against a Gamecocks team that came in 3-3 and 1-3 in league play following a bye week.

South Carolina controlled the opening minutes. The Gamecocks took the opening kickoff 75 yards and scored on an 18-yard touchdown pass from LaNorris Sellers to Mazeo Bennett, then forced a quick Tennessee punt and scored again almost immediately, with Sellers running 31 yards for a touchdown on the second play of the next drive to make it 14-0.

Tennessee's answer was a long one. The Vols put together an 18-play, 75-yard drive that lasted about nine minutes, finished by a 1-yard scoring run from DeSean Bishop, who carried 11 times for 51 yards on the possession. The defense followed with an interception that set Tennessee up at the South Carolina 28, and tight end DaSaahn Brame scored on a 1-yard run on fourth-and-goal to tie the game at 14-14.

South Carolina retook the lead on a 22-yard field goal with 1:44 left in the half after Tennessee's defense held near the goal line, but the Vols responded in the closing seconds. A seven-play, 75-yard drive ended with Mike Matthews running 8 yards for a touchdown out of a Wildcat formation with 24 seconds before halftime, giving Tennessee its first lead.

The game continued a series Tennessee leads 27-11-2, with the teams meeting for the first time since a 41-20 Vols win at Neyland Stadium in 2023. Tennessee came in off a 26-10 win over Alabama and is off next week before closing the regular season in November against Kentucky and LSU at home and Texas A&M and Vanderbilt on the road, making a road win in Columbia important to its College Football Playoff push.