NCAAF Game Recap - South Carolina at Tennessee
Sat Oct 26, 2019 4:00 PM EDT

Ark
7
Bama
48
F
Aub
20
LSU
23
F
Wisc
7
OSU
38
F
BC
7
Clem
59
F
Okla
41
K St
48
F
PSU
28
MSU
7
F
ND
14
Mich
45
F
WaSt
35
Oreg
37
F
Cal
0
Utah
35
F
Tex
27
TCU
37
F
SMU
34
Hou
31
F
MD
10
MIN
52
F
Iowa
20
NW
0
F
App
30
SoAl
3
F
OkSt
34
IASt
27
F
AzSt
32
UCLA
42
F
USC
35
Colo
31
F
BGSU
10
WestMI
49
F
MissSt
30
TxAM
49
F
Lib
34
Rut
44
F
Ill
24
Purd
6
F
MiaFL
16
Pitt
12
F
SJSU
34
Army
29
F
SMiss
20
Rice
6
F
Ohio
34
Ball
21
F
NEV
3
Wyo
31
F
W Ky
23
Marsh
26
F
NMS
7
GaSo
41
F
Akr
0
NIU
49
F
E Mi
34
Toled
37
F OT
MiaOH
23
Kent
16
F
C Mi
20
Buff
43
F
Tows
10
JMU
27
F
Tul
38
Navy
41
F
Ariz
31
Stan
41
F
Ind
38
Neb
31
F
FLInt
17
MidTN
50
F
FlAtl
41
OD
3
F
UConn
56
UMass
35
F
UVA
21
Lou
28
F
Syr
17
FlaSt
35
F
NorTx
38
UNCC
39
F
SoFL
45
ECU
20
F
Murr
12
JacSt
14
F
Hawaii
45
NM
31
F
SCar
21
Tenn
41
F
Duke
17
UNC
20
F
SamHu
25
C Ark
29
F
TxSt
14
ArkSt
38
F
Troy
33
GASt
52
F
Mem
42
Tuls
41
F
UCF
63
Temp
21
F
TxTch
34
Kans
37
F
ColSt
41
Fres
31
F
MIZ
7
KY
29
F
LT
42
UTEP
21
F
UtSt
7
AF
31
F
SDSU
20
UNLV
17
F

Oct 26, 2019, 4:00 PM EDT

Final

1

2

3

4

T

South Carolina (3-5)

7

14

0

0

21

Tennessee (3-5)

3

14

14

10

41

Tennessee beats South Carolina 41-21 without Maurer
Sat Oct 26, 2019 10:58 PM

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Tennessee's Jarrett Guarantano could sense the approaching pass rush just as the quarterback released the pass on the play that knocked him out of the game and put his team ahead for good.

If nothing else, Guarantano certainly has proved the last month he knows how to take a hit.

Guarantano bounced back from a miserable week and threw two touchdown passes as Tennessee withstood the absence of injured starting quarterback Brian Maurer in a 41-21 victory over South Carolina on Saturday.

"I was just very happy with these guys," Guarantano said. "I love seeing the smiles on their faces when they win. That's really the most important thing to me right now."

Tennessee (3-5, 2-3 SEC) outscored South Carolina 24-0 in the second half to end a three-game skid in this annual series.

The Volunteers threw for a season-high 351 yards as Guarantano and redshirt freshman J.T. Shrout shared the quarterback duties with Maurer unavailable after sustaining concussions each of the last two weeks. Guarantano broke a bone in his left (non-throwing hand) on his go-ahead touchdown pass midway through the third quarter, and he's expected to undergo surgery on Sunday.

Guarantano had been roasted around town and on social media after his fourth-and-goal fumble in a 35-13 loss to No. 1 Alabama last week was returned 100 yards for a game-clinching touchdown. He already had endured a difficult season even before that turnover. After making 22 career starts, Guarantano was benched in favor of Maurer earlier this month.

"I've been really happy," Guarantano said after the game with tongue firmly in cheek. "Everything's been going pretty smooth."

Guarantano apologized to his coaches and teammates about the fumble and vowed to "work my tail off" from this point on. Guarantano said he leaned on his faith and followed the advice of cousins who suggested he smile more.

He responded Saturday by going 11 of 19 for 229 yards with a pair of touchdown passes to Jauan Jennings. Guarantano entered on Tennessee's third series and remained in the game until his injury.

Guarantano took a big hit from T.J. Brunson while throwing a 19-yard pass in the back of the end zone to Jennings, who gave Tennessee a 28-24 lead by hanging on to the ball even after taking a shot from R.J. Roderick. Earlier in the game, Jennings caught a 48-yard touchdown in which he broke three tackles on his way to the end zone.

"Jauan has passion for the game," Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt said. "He has passion for his teammates. He has passion for the University of Tennessee. He shows it every single day."

Although the hit from Brunson knocked Guarantano out of the game, Tennessee scored again on its next series as Callaway caught Shrout's first career touchdown pass. Shrout finished 7 of 11 for 122 yards.

Jennings ended up with seven catches for a career-high 174 yards and two touchdowns. Callaway had three catches for 102 yards and scored on a 65-yard punt return.

"We didn't cover 15 and 1," South Carolina coach Will Muschamp said as he referred to Jennings' and Callaway's jersey numbers. "We had a hard time matching up on those guys."

Big plays enabled South Carolina (3-5, 2-4) to grab a 21-17 halftime lead.

South Carolina quarterback Ryan Hilinski, who went 28 of 51 for 319 yards, connected with Shi Smith for a 75-yard touchdown on the game's first snap. Late in the second quarter, Bryan Edwards reached his right arm overhead and made a spectacular one-handed, 18-yard catch on the right sideline to set up a Tavien Feaster 1-yard touchdown run.

But it was all Tennessee the rest of the way.

THE TAKEAWAY

South Carolina: The Gamecocks simply couldn't cover Jennings and Callaway. Their offense also fell apart after halftime. South Carolina now can only lose once more the rest of the season to become bowl eligible with Vanderbilt, No. 21 Appalachian State, Texas A&M and No. 4 Clemson left on the schedule.

Tennessee: The Vols boosted their bowl hopes because their best players delivered big-time performances. Jennings and Callaway are Tennessee's top two playmakers on offense, and both came up huge. Darrell Taylor had two sacks and broke up a fourth-down pass before getting hurt early in the fourth quarter. Daniel Bituli had 15 stops and blocked a punt and pounced on the ball in the end zone for Tennessee's final touchdown.

QB ROTATION

Jennings, a former high school quarterback, took the first snap for Tennessee as the Vols filled in for Maurer. Shrout then took over for most of the first two series with occasional Wildcat help from Jennings before Guarantano entered. After Guarantano got hurt, Shrout took over.

REMARKABLE RECEIVERS

Jennings was the first Tennessee player to have two touchdowns and at least 150 yards receiving in a game since Justin Hunter did it against Troy in 2012. ... Edwards became South Carolina's career leader in receptions with 211. Kenny McKinley had 207 catches for the Gamecocks from 2005-08.

UP NEXT

South Carolina hosts Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Tennessee hosts UAB on Saturday.

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

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Follow Steve Megargee at https://twitter.com/stevemegargee

Passing

SCar Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
R. Hilinski 51 28 54.9 1 319 75 0 80.4
Tenn Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
J. Guarantano 19 11 57.9 2 229 48 0 135.6
J. Shrout 11 7 63.6 1 122 55 0 131.6

Rushing

SCar Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
T. Feaster 19 80 4.2 13 1
M. Denson 7 12 1.7 6 1
Tenn Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
T. Chandler 16 78 4.9 15 0
J. Jennings 5 18 3.6 11 0

Receiving

SCar Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
S. Smith 11 156 14.2 75 1
B. Edwards 8 83 10.4 18 0
Tenn Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
J. Jennings 7 174 24.9 48 2
M. Callaway 3 102 34.0 55 1

Fumbles

Returning

SCar KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
S. Smith 1 15.0 0 15 0 0 0
B. Edwards 0 0 0 1 6.0 0 6
Tenn KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
E. Gray 0 0 0 1 7.0 0 7
M. Callaway 0 0 0 1 65.0 1 65

Punting

SCar Punt Yds Avg LgPu
J. Charlton 7 355 50.7 66
Tenn Punt Yds Avg LgPu
P. Brooks 4 176 44.0 51

Takeaways

Team Stats Comparison

SCar Tenn
Points For 21 41
Total Yards 397 485
Rushing Yards 78 134
Passing Yards 319 351
Passing Completions / Attempts 28/51 18/30
Turnovers 0 0
Interceptions Thrown 0 0
Fumbles - Lost 0/0 0/0
First Downs 22 20
Penalties - Yards 8/65 8/49
Time Of Possession 32:32 28:28
Third Down Conversions/Attempts 4/18 5/14
Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts 2/5 0/1
Punts - Average Yards 8/44 4/44

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter SCar Tenn
SCar 00:11 TD Shi Smith 75 yd pass from Ryan Hilinski (Parker White kick) 7 0
Tenn 07:41 FG Brent Cimaglia 46 yd FG 7 3
2nd Quarter SCar Tenn
Tenn 05:10 TD Marquez Callaway 65 yd punt return (Brent Cimaglia kick) 7 10
SCar 11:44 TD Mon Denson 1 yd run (Parker White kick) 14 10
Tenn 12:26 TD Jauan Jennings 48 yd pass from Jarrett Guarantano (Brent Cimaglia kick) 14 17
SCar 14:50 TD Tavien Feaster 1 yd run (Parker White kick) 21 17
3rd Quarter SCar Tenn
Tenn 06:44 TD Jauan Jennings 19 yd pass from Jarrett Guarantano (Brent Cimaglia kick) 21 24
Tenn 09:53 TD Marquez Callaway 55 yd pass from J.T. Shrout (Brent Cimaglia kick) 21 31
4th Quarter SCar Tenn
Tenn 02:39 FG Brent Cimaglia 31 yd FG 21 34
Tenn 03:19 TD Daniel Bituli 29 yd punt return (Brent Cimaglia kick) 21 41

Game Information

Stadium: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee
Attendance: 87,397
Game Time:
Weather: