South Carolina football falls at Tennessee as Spencer Rattler has worst performance of 2023
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — South Carolina football continues to struggle in SEC road games, losing 41-20 to Tennessee at Neyland Stadium on Saturday. It was the Gamecocks' eighth road loss in the conference in 10 games under coach Shane Beamer.
South Carolina (2-3, 1-2) had hope at the start, taking a 10-7 lead over the No. 19 Vols (4-1, 1-1) in the first quarter. However, things quickly unraveled, and the offense logged a combined six yards in four drives in the entire second quarter.
The bright spot for the Gamecocks was running back Mario Anderson, who started for the first time. He finished with 101 yards on 10 carries, headlined by a 75-yard touchdown run that kept them alive in the third quarter. Anderson was the team's leading rusher for the second consecutive week, and his touchdown was just the second run of 12-plus yards by a South Carolina running back this season.
Spencer Rattler's hot streak cools off
Rattler entered as one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC statistically, but his production was underwhelming against a Vols defense that gave up 166 yards to Graham Mertz and Florida. Though his completion percentage was still decent (24-for-35), Rattler finished with just 169 yards and made just three passes of 15-plus yards.
Rattler's biggest error was an interception in the second quarter that Tennessee defensive back Kamal Hadden returned for a touchdown with seconds left in the first half. It was only his third interception of the season and the second pick-six of his South Carolina career.
Offense can't convert on late downs
South Carolina was doomed by its inability to sustain drives, converting on just 2 of 14 third-downs and 2 of 5 fourth-down attempts. Its only drive longer than 70 yards was Anderson's solo 75-yard touchdown.
Though South Carolina scored points on both of its red-zone appearances, that wasn't enough to make up for Tennessee's 50% completion rate on 14 third-down attempts, and the Vols also got points on all four of their trips to the red zone.
BEAMER BALL: South Carolina football revives 'Beamer Ball' with fake punt by Kai Kroeger vs Tennessee
Defense shredded by run game, deep balls
After a solid performance against Mississippi State in Week 4, South Carolina's run defense folded against the Vols. Jaylen Wright led the team with 123 rushing yards, the third running back to log a 100-plus yard performance against the Gamecocks this season. Tennessee finished with 232 total yards on the ground, including 10 explosive runs of 10 or more yards.
Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton had 239 yards, and South Carolina's defensive backs struggled to contain his arm. He averaged 11.5 yards per completion and made passes of 50, 37, 19 and 17 yards all on either first or second down. Sophomore DQ Smith and freshman Jalon Kilgore had an interception apiece, but only one resulted in points from the offense.
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This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Spencer Rattler struggles as South Carolina football falls to Tennessee
