KNOXVILLE - Tennessee's offense spent most of Saturday living on the edge.
The Volunteers left with a victory largely because they thrived there.
Second in the Southeastern Conference in third-down defense, Tennessee edged out a 27-24 win against South Carolina because of its offense's ability to make a handful of plays to convert third downs.
Seven of the Vols' nine conversions came on passes by quarterback Josh Dobbs, including five on Tennessee's two scoring drives in the second half.
"It wasn't just me going out there and being effective on those third downs," Dobbs said. "I didn't really have people in my face, and the receivers were running great routes and getting open. That really helped. It was a whole unit effort on third down, and that's why we were so efficient."
The Vols wound up in so many third-and-long situations - all but three of their 18 third-down plays were 6 or more yards from the first-down marker - because they weren't efficient on first down.
On Tennessee's first two drives, the Vols totaled 61 yards on seven first-down plays, all runs.
Later in the first half, Dobbs fumbled on a run on first down, the offense had to overcome penalties on consecutive first downs to kick a long field goal, and a two-minute possession was unproductive after a sack.
In the second half, Tennessee totaled minus-1 yard on 12 first-down snaps. Those dozen plays included a bubble screen that produced an Alvin Kamara fumble - which the Gamecocks quickly turned into the score that tied the game at 17 in the third quarter - a sack, two lost-yardage runs and three incompletions.
"I think the huge difference was first down for us," left tackle Kyler Kerbyson said. "Our first-down efficiency really needs to get better. Then we can continue to run the ball more. If we're put in first-and-12 or first-and-13, we have to pass it, or in second-and-12 and -13, we have to pass it. First-down efficiency was really huge."
Though South Carolina had the SEC's worst rushing defense entering the game, Tennessee had just 55 yards on 26 carries in the final three quarters, and that forced the Vols to pass more.
A little more than a month ago, Tennessee's passing game wasn't good enough to win a game, but the Vols made a handful of key plays through air against the Gamecocks much like they did in their Oct. 10 win against Georgia.
All three of Josh Smith's catches against South Carolina were for first-down conversions on third-down plays. Tight end Ethan Wolf made a key grab for 23 yards on third-and-10 to set up Tennessee's lone second-half touchdown. The Vols got shifty slot receiver Johnathon Johnson matched up against a safety and turned it into a 24-yard gain on the drive that ended in the go-ahead field goal drive.
Von Pearson had a 30-yard reception later in that drive, but that was only part of his big game. He also hauled in a 37-yard touchdown in the first quarter and made a short catch on fourth-and-16 to get Tennessee in range for a second-quarter field goal.
The senior, who finished with 121 yards on eight catches Saturday, had just 15 receptions for 164 yards in the first eight games.
"Von did a great job of running routes and getting open," Dobbs said. "He made a lot of plays. He was able to find the little pocket in the coverage, and I was able to find him for first downs."
Tennessee's receivers combined for 13 catches for 192 yards against South Carolina. In the past four games, that unit averaged 11 catches for 162 yards. It combined for 7 yards on two catches at Florida in September.
"We have playmakers across the board," Dobbs said. "They've been making plays throughout the season, and they'll continue to. They all understand and they all know at some point they're going to have to come up and make a big catch. They're interchangeable. We don't really have one go-to guy, but we have all the guys stepping up and making catches, which is big."
But without Dobbs' third-down success, Tennessee would not have won.
"Josh is a playmaker," Kamara said. "I'll say it every week. He's our CEO. He knows when he needs to make a big play. If it's not there throwing-wise, he's going to make a play with his legs. He's tuned into the game at all times, so whenever he needs to make a play, he's going to make it."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.