South Carolina @ Tennessee preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 1, 2014 ) Tennessee 45, South Carolina 42

One of the SEC's highest-scoring offenses looks to keep things rolling when Tennessee hosts South Carolina on Saturday. The Volunteers are averaging 36.1 points and are coming off a 52-point showing in a blowout of Kentucky last week, but coach Butch Jones' squad still sits at .500 on the season because of a defense that allows 403.4 yards per outing.

The Gamecocks don't exactly have an explosive offense - averaging 21.4 points - but showed a spark in their second game under interim coach Shawn Elliott last week, amassing 445 yards and scoring their highest offensive output (28 points) since September. It's been a rocky season for South Carolina, with coach Steve Spurrier retiring midseason and flooding forcing the team to play four of five games on the road since the start of October. Quarterback Perry Orth is a key for the Gamecocks' attack with his passing (947 yards, four touchdowns) while Brandon Wilds has emerged as a ground threat with pair of 100-yard rushing games in his last two outings. The Volunteers' duo of quarterback Joshua Dobbs (1,505 yards, 11 TDs) and running back Jalen Hurd (725 yards, nine TDs) is considering one of the top offensive tandems in the league.

TV: 4 p.m. ET, SEC Network. LINE: Tennessee -17

ABOUT SOUTH CAROLINA (3-5, 1-5 SEC): Not many of the South Carolina players will remember Kordell Stewart's versatility on a football field, but they're getting a look at something like it in quarterback Lorenzo Nunez. The freshman is second on the team in rushing (306 yards) and passing (374 yards) and showed how dangerous he can be with the Gamecocks' opening touchdown on the ground against Texas A&M last week. "We can do a lot with him," Elliott told reporters of the freshman. "He's one of those players that you can line up anywhere and have an instant chance to make a big play with, so yeah, we're doing some of that."

ABOUT TENNESSEE (4-4, 2-3): When defensive end Curt Maggitt went down with a hip injury early this season, Tennessee's pass rush seemed to disappear as the Volunteers had only four sacks in their first four games without him. But in the last two contests, the team has picked things up again with seven sacks, thanks in part to the play of defensive end Derek Barnett, who has four in the team's last three games, including both of the team's in last week's win over Kentucky. "Everyone stayed the course," linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin told reporters. "We're working the same, having the same intensity and having the same game plan really, the same focus toward each game. It's just starting to play off for us."

EXTRA POINTS

1. South Carolina WR Pharoh Cooper, the team's leading receiver with 44 catches for 609 yards and four touchdowns, has been slowed by a thigh injury this week but is expected to be fine for Saturday's game.

2. After not returning a kickoff return and punt return for a touchdown in the same game since 1950, Tennessee has done it twice this season (versus Western Carolina and Kentucky).

3. The last three meetings have been decided by three points or fewer, with Tennessee taking the last two.

PREDICTION: Tennessee 42, South Carolina 27