Tennessee Volunteers Scouting Report: What to Watch for When Carolina Has the Ball

by Gamecock Man on Oct 26, 2025 11:04 PM EDT in Football

12 months ago: South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia (5) rolls out to pass as he's chased by Tennessee's Ronald Byrd (99) during the second half of a NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009 in Knoxville, Tenn. Tennessee won 31-13. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

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3. The Return of Marcus Lattimore

Lattimore is reportedly going to be back to 100% and ready to rumble this weekend. That's good news for Carolina. I would expect that we'll see Lattimore play an especially prominent role in the passing game--see below.

2. UT Injuries / Youth

As with the offense, UT is playing a lot of underclassmen on defense as a result of a rash of injuries and a shallow depth chart. Several key players have been lost over the course of the season, and a couple of names to keep your ears peeled about this week are NT Montori Hughes and CB Marsalis Teague. Hughes is questionable and Teague is doubtful for this weekend.

Looking at the Vols injury report, it's really less and less of a surprise to me that UT has struggled so much. They had the deck stacked against them from the beginning, and Lady Luck has been more and more unkind to them as the year has progressed.

1. Air Raid in the Making?

A quick look at the stats shows that Tennessee has a very vulnerable pass defense. That spells good news for a Carolina team that is beginning to pass the ball quite well as of late. Stephen Garcia continues to have one of the best passer efficiencies in the nation, and while he still misses the occasional deep ball, he's hit enough of them to force defenses to respect his arm. What should perhaps really make Carolina fans lick their chops for a Garcia / Alshon Jeffery highlight-reel game Saturday is Tennessee's sack numbers. Carolina's passing game has always been vulnerable to a strong pass rush while Garcia has been at the helm, but suffice it to say that this isn't the Vols defensive line of yesteryear--UT is 106th in the nation in sacks, averaging just over one per game. When given sufficient time to find his targets, Garcia is generally on the money, and that should be the case Saturday.

I haven't watched the Vols much this year, but I did watch Jarrett Lee and LSU carve the Vols up through the air. That should tell you something.

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Read More: Jarrett Lee (QB - LSU), Stephen Garcia (QB - South Carolina), Alshon Jeffery (WR - South Carolina), Marcus Lattimore (RB - South Carolina), South Carolina Gamecocks, Tennessee Volunteers, Tennessee Volunteers at South Carolina Gamecocks, Oct 30, 2025 12:21 PM EDT

Comments

I know I am looking forward to this game

if we come out ready to play, and get our ground game going… we should be able to finally break the 500 yard plateau in total offense, maybe even come close to 600 (be nice to see Garcia throw for 400 yards haha). I think this game is primed for us to finally get up to the half century mark in points also.

If we cant do it this weekend we may never hang 50 on a team.

by Gamecockrock on Oct 26, 2025 11:23 PM EDT reply actions

Ill be happy with 35

so long as the D holds the Vols under 21.

This is a critiical game. We’re home. We’ll have recruits watching (several of whom are still strongly considering the Vols like Maurice Couch). Coach Dooley will have the Vols fired up and anyone who thinks Tennessee can’t beat us is deluding themselves.

I hope we score on our opening drive and keep the pressure up all game. I don’t see USC at the half-century mark … we just dont seem to score that quickly or that efficiently. The key is to control the first half, and wear the thin/young Vols down physically and emotionally.

Turn the ball over three or more times, and let them hang around, however, and Derek Dooley might get a very nice road win at the Cockpit. He’s got a reasonable shot at 6-6 as it stands, which would be one heckuva finish for him and the Vols.

I hope the HBC shows the troops film of how we let the Vols beat the tar out of us last year … we didnt put up a fight.

They wore garnet helmets.

by tryptic67 on Oct 27, 2025 12:34 AM EDT up reply actions

this offense can definitely put up 50

we could have against USM but Spurrier brought in the backups, and we have put up 21-28 points in the first half a couple times this season, so 50 is definitely not out of the question.

by Gamecockrock on Oct 27, 2025 8:15 AM EDT up reply actions

Too often when everyone expects one thing to happen, the exact opposite happens.

I don’t know what will happen, but I hope it ends in a victory. I want this one worse than any one on the schedule!

stuff 'bout stuff.

by silver82blade on Oct 27, 2025 1:48 AM EDT reply actions

Hey, guess who won't be able to watch for the fourth game this year

This guy right here. Seriously, how many important weekend events can fall on gameday? This time it’s a convention my company is holding. It ends at 3:00 on Saturday. I’ll be running to the nearest bar, but I’d say there’s some chance I’ll miss it all.

This is bad news for the superstitious among us, since two of the three games I couldn’t watch were Auburn and Kentucky. The other was Furman (due to blackout). Here’s to a sound thwomping of the Vols, to break this ugly streak.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Champagne for my real friends and real pain for my sham friends." - Tom Waits

by Gamecock'n'Balls on Oct 27, 2025 7:53 AM EDT reply actions

What?

What company holds a convention during the area’s football game? I’m assuming you live in South Carolina. There are only 12 games a year. The three to four hours of football per week their team plays is like a national holiday for everyone across the country. People can’t just schedule mandatory things like that. I’ve never heard of such a thing.

stuff 'bout stuff.

by silver82blade on Oct 27, 2025 2:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Turnovers will be key

If South Carolina protects the ball, they will win. The Vols best defensive effor this year came against LSU where they let up only 16 points. They also let up 433 yards that game, but by creating 4 turnovers they were able to keep it close. The main point is that Carolina will be able to move the ball. If they can keep from putting it on the ground or throwing to the wrong colored jerseys, they will score and win. If not, all bets are off.

Bring it across, shape it down

by Getoffmyvols on Oct 27, 2025 8:17 AM EDT reply actions