Staff Predictions: No.5 Tennessee-South Carolina

No.5 Tennessee is set to walk in to a hostile environment tonight at a sold-out Williams-Brice stadium against Shane Beamer's South Carolina program. The Vols will look to build on their playoff chances, while the Gamecocks will look to bounce back after an ugly loss to Florida. Ahead of the contest, the Volunteer Country staff shares their predictions for the contest. 

Matt

Make no bones about it, Tennessee added some style points at the end of last week's game against Missouri, but there was more to it than that. Eli Drinkwitz took a few jabs at the Vols over the past two off-seasons, and he found out inside of Neyland Stadium. Shane Beamer started the 2022 season by taking a shot at Tennessee over their loss to Georgia State a few years ago. I am willing to bet the Vols remember that. Add to that there is already buzz about Jalin Hyatt returning home, coupled with wearing orange helmets for the first time and a hostile road environment at night, I expect Tennessee to come out with the throttle pressed all the way down. The Gamecocks are also beat to pieces on the injury front. They can't afford a shootout, and they aren't going to have the depth or endurance to slow the Vols down for long, if at all. I don't know that we will see Tennessee hang another 60 spot, but I like the Vols big in this one. Give me Tennessee 52, South Carolina 17

Dale

Everyone was anxious to see how Tennessee would respond after the loss in the Top 5 Showdown with Georgia. After a slow start, Tennessee got in their groove offensively and got back on track. After some half-time adjustments, the Vols defense began to put the clamps on Missouri for the most part spawning a big 66 to 24 victory for Tennessee. Now the Vols travel to Columbia set to face South Carolina in a typically hostile Williams Brice Stadium. The atmosphere should be electric for kick-off. A lot surrounds this game in many aspects. You have the slight shots by Drinkwitz, play-off picture, Carolina ignoring Hyatt, and much more. South Carolina is usually a scrappy bunch and today's game could start off that same way with feeding off of the crowd's energy. Tennessee displaying a snap and clear mentality with how they handled Missouri, a top 15 defense after the emotional first loss of the season at Georgia proves that mentally they should be ok and ready to play despite the crowd. Explosive offense and a smothering front on defense should spark Tennessee to eventually be able to pull away with another big road win. I'm taking Tennessee 49, South Carolina 21

Jack

Tennessee must continue to keep the pedal to the metal if they want to continue to build their College Football Playoff resume. 

To do that, the Vols need to blowout South Carolina just like they did Missouri last week. Tennessee enters the game healthy and has shown no signs of struggling with mediocre/subpar teams, which is exactly what South Carolina is. 

Give me Tennessee to dominate in Columbia and for Jalin Hyatt to continue his stellar season, torching the secondary of the team that never offered him out of high school. 

Vols dominate wire-to-wire: 45-21

Eric

I am past the point of thinking Tennessee won't show up against teams that they should beat. It seems as if that era of Vol football is in the past. I expect the Vols to run away with this one. The remnants of the Georgia loss are behind them after a slow start against Mizzou. Williams-Brice will be a tough environment to play in, but no environment the Vols will play in holds a finger to what they experienced at Sanford Stadium two weeks ago. A hot start will quickly suck the life out of the crowd, and it will be all Tennessee from there. However, if the crowd gets a glimpse of hope, things could quickly change. I expect there to be a target on Jalin Hyatt's back with South Carolina cornerback Cam Smith looking to prove himself as a top prospect in the upcoming draft. Smith very well could keep Hyatt in check, but then there is Cedric Tillman, Bru McCoy and Ramel Keyton to watch. On the defensive side, the Gamecock offense lives through the run and likely won't have much luck. Without the run game, Spencer Rattler won't have much of a chance to succeed. I expect Tennessee to win and I expect them to win big on the road. Tennessee 52, South Carolina