Matt Dixon
Correspondent
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Just a week after being knocked out of the game against Alabama during Tennessee’s first possession, Denarius Moore had one of the best receiver performances in school history against 17th-ranked South Carolina.
The senior had six receptions for 228 yards and one touchdown in the Volunteers’ 38-24 loss. The yardage ranks second in Tennessee history, behind only Kelley Washington’s 256 yards against LSU in 2001.
“I don’t think I had a game like this in high school either,” Moore said. “I guess it’s my first all around.”
Moore’s previous career high in receiving yards came against Wisconsin in the 2008 Outback Bowl, when as a freshman he made four catches for 86 yards. Moore eclipsed his Outback total by halftime Saturday with three catches for 110 yards.
The Gamecocks’ pass defense ranked last in the SEC entering Saturday’s contest, and UT’s coaches felt Moore would be the receiver to best exploit the South Carolina secondary.
“We wanted him to run all the deep routes,” fellow wide receiver Gerald Jones said. “He capitalized in practice, and it came over into the game.”
Asked if he felt he was “in a zone,” Moore said he just took each play one at a time and tried to focus on what the defense was showing before the snap.
“It just depends on you reading the coverages and talking to your head coach about it,” Moore said. “So it’s just something we worked up together.”
Moore has been known for big-play ability down the field throughout his Tennessee career. Saturday, five of his six receptions were for more than 25 yards, and two exceeded 60, including a career-high 64-yard reception in the second quarter from Matt Simms.
“I knew for a fact that he had all these deep routes,” Simms said. “He had all the big plays plugged in for him, and I’m happy for him because he was starting to get a little down on himself because he felt like he wasn’t involved for a little bit or as much. We got him the ball and he made plays. Congrats to him.”
The Vols used both Simms and true freshman Tyler Bray at quarterback, and Moore hauled in three passes from each.
“He was phenomenal,” coach Derek Dooley said. “When we had time [to throw], and when we maneuvered a little, we could shoot it to him down the field.”
Bray hit Moore in stride with 3:09 left to play in the third quarter for a touchdown that cut the South Carolina lead to 24-17 after the Vols gave up two touchdowns early in the second half.
“You’ve always got to have competitiveness when you are out here playing football,” Moore said, “because anything bad can happen at any time, so you just have to stay positive.”
Moore and Jones are close friends and roommates, and Jones said he joked with Moore after he started piling up yardage during the game.
“I said, ‘Man, you’ve got about 200 or 150 yards now. Can I catch up? I’ve only got like 20,'” Jones said. “Every time he made a play, I said, ‘Would you stop that? Just stop it.’ But yeah, he played great and I’m happy for him.”
Moore has 24 receptions for 485 yards and five touchdowns this season. His previous high moment of the season was nabbing Simms’ 25-yard touchdown pass in the second overtime to give the Vols a 32-29 win over UAB on Sept. 25.
Still, Moore didn’t believe he was having the kind of senior season he was hoping to have, especially after missing nearly all of last week’s game.
“Coming into this game, I sort of had a big chip on my shoulder,” he said. “I just had to come back and prove myself.”