Vols’ run game, pass rush still among nation’s best after South Carolina loss

Tennessee left Columbia with a loss Saturday, but the numbers behind this team’s identity held up. The Vols have built their identity on a punishing run game and a defense that lives in the backfield, and both still rank among the nation’s best after the 27-24 defeat at South Carolina.

LaNorris Sellers and the Gamecocks tested Tennessee’s defense more than anyone has this season. But strip away the undisciplined plays that fueled South Carolina’s success, and the Vols’ defense was strong from the end of the first quarter until late in the fourth. Getting to the quarterback has been its calling card all season, and Saturday was no different.

“I feel like we pretty much got our groove after the first couple series,” safety TJ Metcalf said. “But that can’t happen. We’ve got to start faster, and that’s on the defense.”

Tennessee sacked Sellers five times, all in the second half, raising its season total to 35 and keeping the Vols one sack ahead of LSU for the most in the nation. Tennessee also added eight tackles for loss, pushing its season total to 66, the sixth-most nationally.

Oct 24, 2026; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback LaNorris Sellers (16) is tackled by Tennessee Volunteers defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam (2) during the second half at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Sellers finds the cracks in a defense better than most, and Saturday he found them one too many times. He broke off four runs of 10-plus yards for 76 of his 96 rushing yards, including a 31-yard touchdown that put South Carolina up 14-0 and a 22-yard scramble to the Tennessee 10 before he punched in the game-tying touchdown from 4 yards out in the fourth quarter.

“Schematically, we have to look back, whatever the play is, whose job it is to contain, what we’re trying to accomplish in that certain scheme and that certain play,” linebacker Amare Campbell said. “But we all 11 have to execute our jobs. And if not, it’ll show.”

On the other side of the ball, Tennessee is averaging 213 rushing yards a game, 17th in the nation, and DeSean Bishop remains the engine nobody has stopped. Defenses know he’s coming, and he runs behind his pads and keeps charging anyway. Bishop finished Saturday with 120 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries, becoming the fifth Vol to reach 30 career rushing touchdowns. He also passed Montario Hardesty for 10th on Tennessee’s all-time rushing list with 2,488 career yards. Bishop now ranks second nationally with 957 rushing yards, just six behind Boise State’s Dylan Riley, and his 11 rushing touchdowns are tied for sixth in the country.

The Vols aren’t worried about individual stats or accolades, but the bye week is a good time to reflect on what got them to 6-2 and continue the build. Everything is still on the table with four games left in the regular season, and it starts with Kentucky on Nov. 7.

“Even though we don’t have a game next week, we got to practice and prepare like we do,” Metcalf said. “We just got to go into this bye week with our heads up and just go to work.”

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