KNOXVILLE – For a quarter, it appeared that an off week and a quarterback change had infused fresh life into the struggling Tennessee Volunteers.
The next three quarters revealed many of the same old flaws and brought the same old heartbreak for Tennessee football fans.
A Jarrett Guarantano pass fell incomplete in the end zone as time expired, allowing South Carolina to escape Neyland Stadium on Saturday with a 15-9 Southeastern Conference win that cast the Butch Jones coaching era into further scrutiny.
Tennessee’s offense accumulated 133 yards in the first quarter but only 120 for the rest of the game, and 73 of those came on a final drive the Gamecocks (5-2, 3-2) stopped 2 yards short of a touchdown.
Guarantano’s pass whizzed through the outstretched hands of Brandon Johnson while a crowd of 98,104 watched South Carolina’s sideline pour onto the field.
“It hurts,” Guarantano said.
The Vols (3-3, 0-3) go this week to No. 1 Alabama with a possibility of extending their streak of 10 quarters without a touchdown to 14, dating back to the first half of the Sept. 23 victory over Massachusetts. Saturday’s game brought three red-zone opportunities for Tennessee before its final possession, but they all ended in field goals by freshman Brent Cimaglia.
“Again, it’s the small details of what it takes to play winning football, from penalties to third-down conversions, to red zone, the coming-out situation,” Jones said. “All those things add up to playing winning football.”
The Tennessee offense, which started hot behind Guarantano’s shifty running and the play of John Kelly, sputtered as South Carolina began loading the line of scrimmage with defenders and daring the Vols to pass.
“I thought that was one of the tales of the second half,” Jones said. “I thought we ran the ball effectively and efficiently in the first half, particularly in the first quarter. Jarrett was able to make some plays with his legs. That’s the thing. You (call) a pass and he was able to get you 4 or 5 (yards running) if it wasn’t there, which I thought was big. In the second half we were not able to run the football. When you become one-dimensional, you’re not going to have much success.”
Tennessee largely stifled South Carolina’s offense until the Gamecocks assembled a 95-yard third-quarter drive capped by a 20-yard A.J. Turner touchdown run with 1:02 left in the quarter to tie the game at 9. Tennessee went three-and-out on its next possession, forcing a depleted Vols defense quickly back onto the field.
Twice, though, the Vols held South Carolina to field goals in the fourth quarter to give themselves a chance.
Tennessee took over with 1:13 remaining after Parker White’s third field goal put South Carolina up 15-9. Guarantano connected with Johnson for a 39-yard completion to the 22-yard line.
After two completions to Marquez Callaway, a pass-interference penalty gave Tennessee a first down at the 2 with time dwindling. Three straight incompletions ended the game.
“That was a team that laid it on the line today against a good football team,” Jones said. “They laid it on the line and we had an opportunity to win the football game. There was opportunities when we could have given up.”
Guarantano lay on the field distraught after his last pass fell to the turf.
“We didn’t execute it,” Jones said. “What can I say? It’s very disappointing. We didn’t make the play. You move on. It hurts; it stings.
“I don’t know what else I can tell you.”
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.