Nov. 1, 2008

Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery

Tonight’s win was the South Carolina’s first over Tennessee in Columbia since 1992, when the Gamecocks recorded a 24-23 victory on Halloween. It also assured Carolina of at least a .500 regular-season record for the fifth-straight campaign.

Head coach Steve Spurrier is now in sole possession of eighth place in Carolina history with 27 coaching wins, moving out of a tie with Sol Metzger, who amassed a 26-18-2 record from 1920 to 1924.

Tennessee rushed for just 34 yards, the lowest a Gamecock defense has allowed under head coach Steve Spurrier. The previous low was 41 allowed to Vanderbilt on Oct. 22, 2005. The Gamecocks’ six point allowed were the fourth-fewest yielded by Carolina under Spurrier, tying the effort against Florida Atlantic on Sept. 23, 2006. Tennessee’s 11 first downs tied for the second-fewest a Spurrier-led Carolina defense has surrendered, matching the 11 yielded at Mississippi State on Aug. 31, 2006.

South Carolina’s 44 rushing attempts were the second-most in the Spurrier Era, one shy of the 45 against UAB on Sept. 27, 2008.

The Gamecocks’ 21-point lead at the half was their largest against a Southeastern Conference opponent since a 44-16 win over Kentucky on Oct. 8, 2005, at Williams-Brice Stadium. It is the program’s largest lead against Tennessee since South Carolina joined the SEC in 1992, topping previously largest lead of eight points over the Vols on Oct. 30, 2004. The Gamecocks suffered a 43-29 loss in that home game.

With 2.0 tackles for loss tonight, junior Eric Norwood became the school record holder for career tackles for loss with 36.0, passing the 35.0 of Andrew Provence (1980-82). The record came on 2.0 sacks for Norwood, which also moved him into third place in Gamecock history with 17.0 career sacks. He moved out of a four-way tie for fourth and past Cecil Caldwell (1997-2000), who held third place with 15.5. Norwood needs 6.5 more sacks to reach John Abraham (1996-99) in second place with 23.5.

With 58 yards rushing tonight, senior Mike Davis moved into 12th place in school history with 2,093 career yards rushing.

Senior Kenny McKinley extended his school record for consecutive games with a reception to 39 games with a catch in the first quarter.

Senior Mike Davis scored his first receiving touchdown of the season with a 12-yard reception for a TD in the first quarter.

Senior Stoney Woodson collected his seventh career interception, third of the season, in the second quarter, returning it for a touchdown, the first of his career. Woodson has the most career interceptions of anyone currently on the Gamecock roster. He is the first Gamecock to return an interception for a touchdown since Nathan Pepper did it against South Carolina State on Sept. 15, 2007.

Sophomore Travian Robertson forced his first career fumble in the second quarter.

McKinley’s second-quarter touchdown reception moved him past Sterling Sharpe (1983-87) and Zola Davis (1995-98) into sole possession of fourth place in school history with 18 career receiving TD. He is one shy of second place, which is currently shared by Robert Brooks (1988-91) and Jermale Kelly (1997-2000).

Senior Marvin Sapp collected his first career sack in the second quarter.

Sophomore Chris Culliver returned a third-quarter kickoff for a career-long 67 yards, surpassing his previous long of 50 yards, which he accomplished at Vanderbilt earlier this season.

Noting Tennessee

• Tennessee’s record falls to 3-6 (1-5 SEC); South Carolina improves to 6-3 (3-3 SEC) on the year.
• The Vols entered the game unranked in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls; The Gamecocks were also unranked in both polls.
• Tennessee returns to action Nov. 8 when it hosts Wyoming at Neyland Stadium in the third all-time meeting between the two programs (UT leads 2-0). Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET, and the game will be available via pay-per-view.
• Tennessee-South Carolina Series
• Tennessee now leads the all-time series with South Carolina 21-4-2, dating to 1903. That record includes a 8-3-2 mark in Columbia.
• Today’s contest marked the 14th meeting between UT head coach Phillip Fulmer and South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier. Spurrier holds an all-time advantage, 9-5 and the two coaches are knotted 2-2 while Spurrier has been at the helm in Columbia.
• Phillip Fulmer’s Record
• Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer’s record now stands at 150-51 (.746) in 17 seasons with the Vols.
• Fulmer now owns a 51-23 (.689) record in road games, a 94-34 (.734) regular-season SEC record and a 59-21 (.737) record against SEC Eastern Division opponents.
• Noting The Offense
• Tailback Arian Foster rushed for 56 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. The touchdown was his first of the season and the 23rd of his career. His 56 yards were enough tie him with Johnnie Jones at third place on UT’s all-time rushing list with 2,852 yards.
• Junior quarterback Jonathan Crompton replaced starter Nick Stephens in the second quarter and finished the half 5-of-8 for 39 yards. Stephens was 5-of-10 for 53 yards with an interception before being replaced. He returned to start the second half and completed 5-of-14 passes for 81 yards. Stephens’ totals for the game were 10-of-24 passing for 134 yards and one interception.
• Sophomore wideout Gerald Jones returned to the field after missing the Alabama game with an injury. He caught two passes for 13 yards.
• Senior wideout Austin Rogers caught a career-long 49-yard pass from Stephens to open the second half. Rogers finished the game with a season-high 72 receiving yards.
• Tennessee’s scoring drive in the third quarter consumed 80 yards on eight plays. The 80 yards ties the longest drive by the offense this season. Tennessee had touchdown scoring drives at UCLA and vs. UAB of 80 yards.
• Noting The Defense
• Eric Berry picked off Stephen Garcia on the Gamecocks second possession of the second half. He returned the pick 45 yards, which gives him 442 career interception return yards, an extension of his SEC record. The sophomore is now just 59 yards from tying the NCAA record for career interception return yards (501 by Terrell Buckley of Florida State).
• Berry now has 11 career interceptions and six this season. His 11 career picks are tied for 11th in school history.
• Robert Ayers was credited with one TFL (a half on two separate plays). Those plays gave him 10 TFL for the season (which leads the team) and moved him alone into third place on UT’s career list with 26 TFL (sacks not included). Ayers finished the game with seven total stops.
• Junior linebacker Rico McCoy led the team with nine tackles including one for a loss.
• Sophomore defensive end Gerald Williams finished the game with a career-high five tackles and half a TFL, which was his first mark in that column this season.
• Noting the Special Teams
• Dennis Rogan returned two kickoffs for 46 yards. His career total of 922 yards ranks sixth all-time on Tennessee’s kickoff return yards list.
• Rogan’s career kick return yardage total is 1,142, which ranks 10th in program history.
• Britton Colquitt punted nine times for 45.3-yard average. His eighth punt of the game was for a career-best 71 yards.
• Miscellaneous Notes
• Attendance: 81,731
• Tennessee’s captains tonight were defensive end Robert Ayers, offensive tackle Ramon Foster, wide receiver Lucas Taylor, linebacker Ellix Wilson, tailback Montario Hardesty and safety Eric Berry. They were named permanent team captains in the week leading up to the Mississippi State game (Oct. 18).
• Senior tailback Arian Foster lined up in the backfield to start the game for the 23rd-consecutive contest. He needs one more start to tie the school record for consecutive starts by a Fulmer-era tailback. Jay Graham started 24 straight games during the 1995 and 1996 seasons.
• Sophomore quarterback Nick Stephens threw his first career interception in the second quarter. Stephens threw 106 consecutive passes without being picked, which tied Darryl Dickey for fifth on UT’s all-time list for consecutive attempts without an interception. It was also the best-ever streak without a pick by a UT quarterback to start his career.