October 27, 2001
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – While Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer knew about the higher-ranked teams losing Saturday, the ninth-ranked Volunteers kept their blinders on and took out the only opponent they saw in their way.
The surprising thing about the Tennessee-South Carolina game was how well South Carolina’s defense played. The Vols had wide receivers Donte’ Stallworth and Kelley Washington back in the lineup and the Gamecocks really held them in check for most of the game.
Travis Stephens is still the most underrated running back in college football. He worked hard and did a nice job. For a while it looked like South Carolina would have a chance to pull this one out. The fourth-down play, when Lou Holtz went for it and they didn’t get it on that last drive, shows you how close the game was.
Tennessee and Florida are lining up for an SEC East title showdown. It’s clear now that it will come down to those two.
Travis Stephens ran for two touchdowns as the Vols (5-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) beat South Carolina (No. 14 ESPN/USA Today, No. 12 AP) 17-10 to remain in the hunt for a trip to the SEC championship game.
Before the game, Fulmer watched Syracuse play Virginia Tech (No. 4, No. 5) and No. 3 Nebraska play second-ranked Oklahoma. He later learned of the upsets and told the team. UCLA (No. 5, No. 4) also lost to Stanford (No. 22, No. 22).
“The teams that get better and stay healthy during the course of the year are the teams that are there at the end,” Fulmer said. “We’re getting healthy and further along than we’ve been.”
The game had big implications in the SEC East division race.
The win tied Tennessee with Florida for the lead in the East with just one conference loss apiece. They will play their postponed game on Dec. 1.
South Carolina (6-2, 5-2) moved into a tie for second with Georgia after both teams lost for just the second time in the conference.
“We knew a couple of teams had lost,” Stephens said. “I guess we’ll move up now.” But Fulmer doesn’t let the Vols get ahead of themselves. Next up is a trip to Notre Dame.
“Our focus, honest to goodness, has to be Monday’s practice. That’s how far ahead we need to look,” he said. “If you start looking too far out there and listen to everybody saying how great you are, you’re going to get upset.”
The Gamecocks, who are 0-11 in Neyland Stadium and have lost nine straight to the Vols, never led but tied it at 10 on Daniel Weaver’s 24-yard field goal with 13:21 left.
On the next drive, the Vols took six minutes off the clock before Stephens scored from a yard out, running to the left of the pile on the goal line.
Kelley Washington hauls in one of his Tennessee-high five passes for 89 yards. South Carolina, which moved the ball for 157 yards on the stingiest rush defense in the SEC, didn’t go anywhere on the next drive but got the ball back with 3:38 to go and drove to the Tennessee 38. But on fourth-and-5, Phil Petty’s pass was incomplete to Corey Alexander and South Carolina was called for holding, giving the ball back to Tennessee with 54 seconds left.
“What do you say? We had a lot of things go against us, but we hung in there. We were one play short,” South Carolina coach Lou Holtz said. “It was well played, physical and bitterly contested. I expected to win.”
Stephens, who finished with 120 yards on 28 carries, put Tennessee on the board for the first time in the second quarter and provided the Vols’ most consistent offense.
South Carolina had a chance to go ahead before Stephens’ final touchdown, but was stopped twice at the Tennessee 1. Weaver then kicked his 24-yard field goal to tie it at 10. But the Vols knew the fourth quarter was theirs. “We always talk about really controlling the ball in the fourth quarter,” Tennessee receiver Kelley Washington said. “We feel our offensive line is going to be able to pound on the defense and that’s when Travis really gets going.”
On Tennessee’s ensuing drive, quarterback Casey Clausen was sacked at his 29 and was tackled again on the next play for a loss of 7 yards. On third-and-21, Clausen completed a pass to Bobby Graham for 32 yards to the South Carolina 4. Then Stephens carried two times before scoring. Stephens scored from 8 yards out with 2:53 to go in the second quarter, and the Gamecocks tied it on Petty’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Derek Watson with 26 seconds left in the half.
Tennessee broke a 7-7 tie with Alex Walls’ 20-yard field goal with 7:35 left in the third quarter. The Vols had gotten to the South Carolina 5, but couldn’t score a touchdown on three tries handing it off to Stephens. The Vols got back their only injured player. Defensive end Will Overstreet was listed as questionable for the game after missing the last two with sprained ligaments in his left knee. He played some of the game and had one tackle for a loss.
Neither team could get much going on offense in the first quarter. Tennessee had just 18 total yards on nine plays while South Carolina was a had 61 yards on 17 plays. Clausen completed one pass and Petty just two.
