Tennessee @ South Carolina preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 29, 2011 ) South Carolina 14, Tennessee 3

The worst of No. 16 South Carolina's relatively easy SEC schedule – it avoided Alabama, Mississippi State and Texas A&M this season – is over, but so are hopes of playing in the conference title game after last week's 44-11 thrashing at Florida. Instead the Gamecocks must simply turn their focus to snapping their two-game losing streak, and there might not be a better team in the league to do so against than Tennessee, which visits Saturday at noon. The Volunteers have the excuse of facing all ranked competition in starting 0-4 in SEC play, but their defense has yielded a whopping average of 43.3 points to Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State and Alabama, which sent Tennessee to a 44-13 home defeat last week. South Carolina has won eight straight at home. The Vols are 1-11 in their last 12 league contests, and gave up 51 points to a Georgia team that South Carolina throttled 35-7 the following week. The good news? Tennessee-South Carolina games have been decided by an average of 9.17 points since 2000, the closest matchup in the SEC.

TV: Noon ET, ESPN. Line: South Carolina -14

ABOUT TENNESSEE (3-4, 0-4 SEC): Though their defense has been overwhelmed, the Volunteers' offense has played effectively at times, and had scored at least 31 points in each game before meeting the Crimson Tide. Tennessee ranks third in the SEC and 34th nationally with 453.7 yards per game. Junior QB Tyler Bray is completing 59 percent of his passes with 16 touchdowns against nine picks this season, and is already fourth on the school's all-time list with 51 career touchdown passes. Tennessee has allowed only three sacks, tied for second fewest in the nation. The Vols' lone touchdown against Alabama, however, came from their defensive star, sophomore LB A.J. Johnson, who ran one in out of their “beast package” to go with 14 tackles. He's posted double-figure tackles each of the last four games.

ABOUT SOUTH CAROLINA (6-2, 4-2 SEC): After nearly picking off LSU the week before, the Gamecocks crashed hard against the Gators, turning the ball over four times and surrendering four touchdown passes. Junior QB Connor Shaw was just 9-of-20 and got benched after halftime, ending a streak of four consecutive games with two touchdown passes. The Gamecocks look to get a boost from a healthier Marcus Lattimore, though, who is expected to start against the Volunteers. The junior standout didn't start against Florida because of a hip injury and ran for just 13 yards on three carries before sitting from midway through second quarter on. As bad as its own offense played, South Carolina's defense only gave up 183 total yards against Florida. Apart from running the clock out at the end, the Gamecocks held the Gators to three-and-outs on all seven possessions in which they didn't score, including six that went for zero or negative yardage.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Tennessee leads the series 22-6-2, but South Carolina has won the last two, including a 14-3 decision last year in Knoxville.

2. South Carolina senior kicker Adam Yates was 3-of-4 on field goals against Florida, including a 51-yarder that topped his previous career long by 13 yards.

3. The Volunteers made four red-zone trips against Alabama, half the amount the Crimson Tide had allowed in their previous six games combined.

PREDICTION: South Carolina 31, Tennessee 23