Mark WiedmerCOLUMBIA, S.C. - Not yet.
Improved though the University of Tennessee football program may be from where it started this season under first-year coach Jeremy Pruitt, Saturday night at South Carolina proved the Volunteers aren't quite the team they need to be to win a Southeastern Conference road game under the lights against an inspired host.
The final score was Gamecocks 27, Vols 24, which was actually a wee bit closer than the seven points by which the smart guys in Las Vegas had predicted the home team to win this one.
But Tennessee actually was ahead 21-9 early in the third quarter, leading with relative ease, as if it were the better of the two teams in those three areas coaches love to talk about: offense, defense and the kicking game.
At that moment early in the third, Tennessee was leading the statistical categories. It was leading in momentum. It was probably leading in bowl speculation for the Citrus and Taxslayer officials in attendance, because a win would make it 4-4 for the season with only winnable games against Charlotte, Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt remaining down the stretch.
But then it all slipped away. Gamecocks quarterback Jake Bentley started hitting his receivers. The South Carolina defense began to bend more than break. The Vols' ace in the hole on offense, wide receiver Jauan Jennings, apparently got dinged up down the stretch.
So South Carolina won and Tennessee lost and the overall record for the Vols slipped to 3-5 overall and 1-4 in the SEC, which isn't what any member of the Big Orange Nation wants, but is probably close, if not moderately better than most Volniacs feared.
That doesn't mean it necessarily has to end with a losing record. Or that it will. The Vols could still win out. They'll almost assuredly be favored in three of their final four games, with only Kentucky probably predicted to defeat them.
Even then, it looked like it might be quite different as Saturday night's game ticked down to its final three minutes.
The clock was ticking under five minutes to play. The Vols were down 27-24. Losing this game wouldn't be a shock.
But the score aside to this point, this might have been the most complete game of Pruitt's brief career as Tennessee's head coach. Whipping Auburn at Auburn might have looked better on paper, given that the Tigers were ranked at the time. But this one had looked more solid throughout - the kicking game, offense and defense more in sync that at any previous time this season.
Yet none of that had maintained the lead by the final four minutes of the fourth quarter. The Vols were in their own territory and facing third-and-6 at their own 39. Do or die. Win or fall to 3-5 on the season.
Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano hit Marquez Callaway for a first down. Ty Chandler ran for 5 yards on second-and-10. Guarantano scrambled out of deep trouble but not enough to avoid facing fourth-and-5 at the South Carollina 44. Then a false-start penalty backed the Vols up to the South Carolina 49. Fourth-and-10.
And then defeat. Gurantano was sacked. The Gamecocks took over possession, which basically meant the game was over and a golden opportunity was lost.
Yet that somewhat unfairly diminishes what was accomplished on enemy soil. For the second straight SEC road game, the Vols put up quite a fight. And this time against a Gamecocks bunch that just enjoyed a bye week to get ready for the visitors. Maybe the Vols didn't win this one, as they did at Auburn. Maybe they actually let this possible upset victory slip away, given that 12-point third-quarter lead.
They did, however, often run and throw the ball with equal skill. The Vols played pretty good defense until they got that 21-9 lead. The kicking game looked solid overall.
"Our third-down defense was disastrous. We couldn't get off the field," said coach Will Muschamp, whose team actually won. "Give Tennessee credit. They did a really great job in the screen game."
Then he paused and smiled: "But I'm really proud of my team. We took a stand here."
The Vols did, too. And even without a win, it won't be their last stand of the year to prove they really are getting better.
They're just not yet good enough to win more SEC games than they lose.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.