NCAAF Game Recap - Tennessee at South Carolina
Sat Oct 27, 2018 7:30 PM EDT

Clem
59
FlaSt
10
F
ND
44
Navy
22
F
Tex
35
OkSt
38
F
Fla
17
UGA
36
F
K St
14
Okla
51
F
KY
15
MIZ
14
F
Bayl
14
WVU
58
F
WaSt
41
Stan
38
F
Wash
10
Cal
12
F
TxAM
13
MissSt
28
F
Iowa
24
PSU
30
F
Oreg
15
Ariz
44
F
Wisc
17
NW
31
F
SoFL
36
Hou
57
F
NCSt
41
Syr
51
F
Utah
41
UCLA
10
F
App
14
GaSo
34
F
Troy
38
SoAl
17
F
Toled
51
WestMI
24
F
Ball
14
Ohio
52
F
GATec
49
VaTec
28
F
LT
21
FlAtl
13
F
MiaFL
14
BC
27
F
Ind
31
MIN
38
F
Wyo
34
ColSt
21
F
B-C
9
Neb
45
F
TxTch
31
IASt
40
F
Vand
45
Ark
31
F
Purd
13
MSU
23
F
Wake
56
Lou
35
F
Army
37
E Mi
22
F
UMass
22
UConn
17
F
C Mi
10
Akr
17
F
UNC
21
UVA
31
F
CoCar
37
GASt
34
F
SouLA
25
SamHu
28
F
SMiss
17
UNCC
20
F
OreSt
41
Colo
34
F OT
TCU
26
Kans
27
F
AzSt
38
USC
35
F
NIU
7
BYU
6
F
Cin
26
SMU
20
F OT
Duke
45
Pitt
54
F
MidTN
51
OD
17
F
Ill
33
MD
63
F
Stony
10
JMU
13
F
NM
19
UtSt
61
F
Rice
17
NorTx
41
F
JacSt
42
Murr
15
F
UNLV
37
SJSU
50
F
Boise
48
AF
38
F
ArkSt
43
ULLaf
47
F
Tul
24
Tuls
17
F
NMS
20
TxSt
27
F
UAB
19
UTEP
0
F
FLInt
38
W Ky
17
F
Tenn
24
SCar
27
F
SDSU
24
NEV
28
F
Hawaii
20
Fres
50
F
MiaOH
42
Buff
51
F
Kent
35
BGSU
28
F

Oct 27, 2018, 7:30 PM EDT

Final

1

2

3

4

T

Tennessee (3-5)

7

7

10

0

24

South Carolina (4-3)

3

6

15

3

27

South Carolina rallies from 12 down to beat Vols 27-24
Sun Oct 28, 2018 12:08 AM

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Jake Bentley lay on the field after a hard hit on his game-tying two-point conversion in the second half.

Despite feeling like he "got hit by a boulder" and taking a few moments to recover, Bentley knew he wasn't done - and neither was South Carolina.

Bentley threw for 152 yards and a touchdown and the Gamecocks stopped Tennessee on downs twice in the final quarter to rally from 12-points down to beat the Vols 27-24 on Saturday.

"It's a huge SEC win for us and it's huge for our team," Bentley said. "The resiliency that our team showed the past couple of weeks and tonight really a testament to our coaches and the culture that we have here."

It's also a testament to Bentley's ability to block out critics and sluggish play. He was hurt against Kentucky last month, missed a dramatic win over Missouri the next week as his backup Michael Scarnecchia starred, then played a dreadful first half in a 26-23 loss to Texas A&M two weeks ago where even an average game might have saved the Gamecocks.

Bentley heard the boos, plenty of them.

"I've had great teammates who've lifted me up the past couple of weeks," Bentley said. "But it's our job to come out here and win."

Parker White's 25-yard field goal with 5:52 remaining proved the difference, the second time in South Carolina's past three game he's gotten the game winning kick.

South Carolina defensive end D.J. Wonnum, back after missing five games with an ankle injury, sacked Vols quarterback Jarrett Guarantano on fourth down with 1:08 to go to seal the win.

The Vols (3-5, 1-4 Southeastern Conference) looked like they had gained control when they went up 21-9 on Carlin Fils-aime's 14-yard TD run early in the third quarter.

But with the previous six meetings in the series decided by 20 points, there was little chance this one wouldn't tighten up.

"We played some good football today," Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt said. "We didn't finish the game. We made mistakes and they took advantage of it."

The Gamecocks (4-3, 3-3) began the comeback on Rico Dowdle's 1-yard touchdown run. Then, after a Vols field goal, South Carolina responded again.

Bentley connected with Bryan Edwards on a 73-yard pass to the Tennessee 2 and two plays later Ty'Son Williams bulled in for a 1-yard touchdown run.

Bentley ran past three defenders for a two-point conversion and a 24-all tie.

After Javon Kinlaw knocked down Guarantano's fourth-down pass with 9:47 to go, Bentley led the Gamecocks to the Vols 8 to set Parker up for the go-ahead kick.

Tennessee drove to midfield the final time it had the ball before Wonnum wrapped up Guarantano on fourth-and-10.

Tennessee finally got off to a quick start.

Guarantano helped the Vols convert four third downs on a 71-yard TD drive that ended with a 6-yard pass to Jauan Jennings, the brother of South Carolina women's basketball forward Alexis Jennings, to put the Vols up 14-3.

Perhaps it was scoring at his big sister's school, but the younger Jennings celebrated his touchdown by placing the ball on the stomach of defender Steven Montac as he lay in the end zone. The action drew a penalty and set up a late South Carolina touchdown after it began at its 40.

TAKEAWAYS

Tennessee: The Vols rebounded strongly from last week's 58-21 beatdown by No. 1 Alabama. But Tennessee still has some offensive work to do, particularly down the stretch.

South Carolina: Second-half Jake Bentley looks much better than first-half Bentley. The Gamecocks junior had 61 yards passing, an interception and a sack the first 30 minutes. He led three scoring drives the final two quarters.

RUNNING RICO

South Carolina's Rico Dowdle ran for a season high 140 yards against the Vols, his third 100-yard game of the season. Dowdle said the team focused on improving the run during the off week and felt the results were there Saturday.

SMITH'S LOSS

The Vols played without starting left tackle Trey Smith who was found to have blood clots in his lungs and is out indefinitely. Tennessee's Pruitt said Smith was out of the hospital and is grateful doctors have done a good job with the players' condition.

UP NEXT

Tennessee steps out of the SEC with a home game against Charlotte next week.

South Carolina plays its first game with Ole Miss in nine years when it travels to face the Rebels next Saturday.

---

More AP college football coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

Passing

Tenn Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
J. Guarantano 39 27 69.2 2 207 20 0 99.0
SCar Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
J. Bentley 16 11 68.8 1 152 73 1 93.8

Rushing

Tenn Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
T. Jordan 12 62 5.2 10 0
T. Chandler 11 54 4.9 12 0
SCar Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
R. Dowdle 14 140 10.0 30 1
T. Williams 13 34 2.6 9 1

Receiving

Tenn Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
M. Callaway 9 86 9.6 16 0
T. Jordan 4 29 7.3 11 0
SCar Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
B. Edwards 3 96 32.0 73 0
T. Williams 2 16 8.0 11 0

Fumbles

Returning

Tenn KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
M. Callaway 0 0 0 1 7.0 0 7
T. Chandler 1 27.0 0 27 0 0 0
SCar KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
D. Samuel 3 28.0 0 34 0 0 0
A. Turner 1 21.0 0 21 0 0 0

Punting

Tenn Punt Yds Avg LgPu
J. Doyle 2 102 51.0 54
SCar Punt Yds Avg LgPu
J. Charlton 2 100 50.0 55

Takeaways

Tenn Int Yds InTD
S. Tuttle 1 0 0

Team Stats Comparison

Tenn SCar
Points For 24 27
Total Yards 351 376
Rushing Yards 144 224
Passing Yards 207 152
Passing Completions / Attempts 27/39 11/16
Turnovers 0 1
Interceptions Thrown 0 1
Fumbles - Lost 0/0 0/0
First Downs 23 19
Penalties - Yards 9/75 2/9
Time Of Possession 33:33 27:27
Third Down Conversions/Attempts 11/16 4/9
Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts 0/2 0/0
Punts - Average Yards 2/51 2/50

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter Tenn SCar
Tenn 10:07 TD Eli Wolf 5 yd pass from Jarrett Guarantano (Brent Cimaglia kick) 7 0
SCar 14:23 FG Parker White 19 yd FG 7 3
2nd Quarter Tenn SCar
Tenn 12:49 TD Jauan Jennings 6 yd pass from Jarrett Guarantano (Brent Cimaglia kick) 14 3
SCar 14:11 TD Deebo Samuel 3 yd pass from Jake Bentley (blocked XP) 14 9
3rd Quarter Tenn SCar
Tenn 04:58 TD Carlin Fils-Aime 14 yd run (Brent Cimaglia kick) 21 9
SCar 06:55 TD Rico Dowdle 1 yd run (Parker White kick) 21 16
Tenn 13:13 FG Brent Cimaglia 45 yd FG 24 16
SCar 14:55 TD Ty'Son Williams 1 yd run (JAKE BENTLEY 2pt run) 24 24
4th Quarter Tenn SCar
SCar 09:08 FG Parker White 25 yd FG 24 27

Game Information

Stadium: Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, South Carolina
Attendance: 80,614
Game Time:
Weather: