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Tennessee opens Jeremy Pruitt’s third season with victory at South Carolina

AP photo by Sean Rayford / Tennessee's Henry To'o To'o (11), Trevon Flowers (1), Deandre Johnson (13) and Kenneth George Jr. (5) celebrate To'o To'o's interception return for a touchdown during Saturday night's game at South Carolina. The No. 16 Vols won the season and SEC opener for both teams 31-27.
AP photo by Sean Rayford / Tennessee's Henry To'o To'o (11), Trevon Flowers (1), Deandre Johnson (13) and Kenneth George Jr. (5) celebrate To'o To'o's interception return for a touchdown during Saturday night's game at South Carolina. The No. 16 Vols won the season and SEC opener for both teams 31-27. AP photo by Sean Rayford / Tennessee's Henry To'o To'o (11), Trevon Flowers (1), Deandre Johnson (13) and Kenneth George Jr. (5) celebrate To'o To'o's interception return for a touchdown during Saturday night's game at South Carolina. The No. 16 Vols won the season and SEC opener for both teams 31-27.

By David Paschall 5 min read

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Tennessee Volunteers are experiencing a brand new world under third-year football coach Jeremy Pruitt.

It’s called being 1-0.

After losing opening games the past two seasons to West Virginia and Georgia State, Tennessee spotted South Carolina a quick score Saturday night inside Williams-Brice Stadium before regrouping, building a two-touchdown bulge and then holding on for a 31-27 victory. For the No. 16 Vols, it was the first of 10 league games in this Southeastern Conference season that was delayed and altered by the coronavirus.

“It feels good,” Vols sophomore linebacker Henry To’o To’o said of the undefeated mark. “You win and you always feel good. It’s a confidence booster, but we have a lot of stuff we can clean up. We know what we to fix, and we know what we excel at, so we’ve just got to move on from here.”

A crowd of just 15,009 attended Saturday’s game, with Williams-Brice having been configured to house as many as 15,637 due to implemented COVID-19-related guidelines.