Tennessee rallies from 14 down, leads South Carolina 24-17 in fourth quarter

No. 11 Tennessee fell behind by two touchdowns early at South Carolina on Saturday, then fought back to take a 24-17 lead early in the fourth quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia. South Carolina received the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards for an 18-yard touchdown pass from LaNorris Sellers to Mazeo Bennett, and after a Tennessee three-and-out, Sellers added a 31-yard touchdown run on the second play of the next drive for a 14-0 lead with 8:17 left in the first quarter.

Tennessee answered with an 18-play, 75-yard drive that lasted nine minutes and ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by DeSean Bishop, who carried 11 times for 51 yards on the drive. The Volunteers tied the game in the second quarter after an interception gave them the ball at the South Carolina 28, with DaSaahn Brame scoring on a 1-yard run on fourth-and-goal. South Carolina moved back ahead on a 22-yard field goal, but Tennessee went 75 yards in seven plays before halftime and took its first lead on an 8-yard wildcat touchdown run by Mike Matthews with 24 seconds left in the half.

Neither team scored in the third quarter, with Xavier Gilliam sacking Sellers on fourth-and-three at the Tennessee 41 for the biggest defensive play of the period. In the fourth quarter, a touchdown pass from George MacIntyre to Braylon Staley was wiped out by a holding penalty — the third Tennessee touchdown called back in the game — and the Volunteers settled for a 37-yard field goal by Cooper Ranvier to extend the lead to seven with 11:46 remaining.

Tennessee entered the game 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the SEC, coming off a 26-10 win over Alabama and continuing its College Football Playoff push. South Carolina came in 3-3 and 1-3 in the league after a bye week. Tennessee has a bye next week before closing the regular season in November with home games against Kentucky and LSU and road games at Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.