Tennessee Trails South Carolina 14-0 Early in Columbia as Live Updates Roll On

Tennessee's visit to South Carolina started badly on Saturday afternoon at Williams-Brice Stadium, with the Gamecocks leading 14-0 in the first quarter of the 3:30 p.m. Eastern kickoff on ESPN. The Vols arrived at 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the SEC, trying to keep a College Football Playoff push alive, while South Carolina entered 3-3 and 1-3 in league play after a bye week.

South Carolina took the opening kickoff after winning the toss and drove 75 yards to score first, with LaNorris Sellers throwing a touchdown pass to Mazeo Bennett Jr. to cap the drive. Tennessee then went three-and-out, and the Gamecocks struck again in two plays, with Sellers passing for 27 yards and then running 31 yards for a second touchdown that left the Vols down two scores almost immediately.

The matchup is the first between the programs since Tennessee won 41-20 at Neyland Stadium in 2023, and the Vols lead the all-time series 27-11-2 dating back to 1903. The last meeting in Columbia went very differently, a 63-38 South Carolina win in 2022, and Saturday's early going revived some of those concerns for Tennessee's defense.

Tennessee came in off a 26-10 win over Alabama last week and 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. That context makes a comeback in Columbia important beyond one afternoon, because a loss here would damage the position the Alabama win helped build.