Tennessee had a chance to take a 7–1 record into the open week. Instead, the Vols left Columbia 6–2 after a 27–24 loss to South Carolina, carrying a collection of mistakes that ought to make the next two weeks uncomfortable. We systematically defeated ourselves.
That is the part that sticks. There was enough good football here to win. George MacIntyre made throws worth building around. DeSean Bishop gave us another dependable afternoon. The defense recovered from a rough beginning and kept producing chances to finish. Tennessee kept finding ways to waste them.
Start with GMac. My vote is that he earned the starting job against Kentucky. The official passing line will not convince everybody, but it cannot show three touchdown passes erased by penalties. Those throws happened. So did the mistakes around them. A young quarterback needs help from the people lining up with him, and too often Saturday that help came with a flag attached.
The trouble began well before the closing possessions. Tennessee had an interception wiped away by an offside penalty on South Carolina’s opening drive. The Gamecocks turned the reprieve into a touchdown, then added another for a 14–0 lead. We were already making the afternoon harder than it needed to be.
To their credit, the Vols answered. Bishop finished a long possession, TJ Metcalf’s interception created a short field, and DaSaahn Brame supplied another rushing touchdown. Mike Matthews put Tennessee ahead before halftime. After that ugly start, the Vols had worked their way into position to take this game home.
Bishop deserves credit for that recovery. He had another good game, the kind that gives an offense something solid to come back to when everything else gets complicated. There was plenty of complication Saturday. Bishop kept working.
The defense deserves credit for settling down, too. Five second-half sacks raised Tennessee’s nation-leading total to 35 and helped the Vols take control of stretches of the game. That pressure gave the offense chances to create separation. It also makes the finish harder to swallow, because so much useful work went into putting the Vols in position to win.
The penalties kept pulling in the other direction. Twelve for 90 yards is bad enough on the stat sheet. Erasing three touchdown passes gives those numbers a much uglier meaning. This late in the season, we should not still be watching basic execution failures undo the hardest part of a possession.
Three touchdown passes, and none of them counted. That is a rotten way to reward a young quarterback for making the play. The offense repeatedly reached the end zone only to learn that somebody had failed to do his job. That is a discipline problem, and it belongs to the whole operation.
The fourth-quarter example hurt most visibly. MacIntyre found Braylon Staley for what appeared to be the touchdown that would finally give Tennessee some breathing room. Holding erased it. The Vols settled for a field goal and a seven-point lead. South Carolina was still close enough to make us pay.
Then came the chance to finish with possession. Tennessee failed on fourth-and-one in South Carolina territory. The Gamecocks drove for the tying touchdown, aided by another Tennessee penalty. Sellers finished the drive himself. For all the defense’s good work, it could not get the stop that would have preserved the lead.
The late strip sack put South Carolina in position for the winning kick. It was costly. It belongs in the account. But I am not hanging this loss around MacIntyre’s neck. By then, Tennessee had spent much of the afternoon creating the conditions for one bad play to become decisive.
Give South Carolina its due. The Gamecocks kept playing, Sellers brought them back, Dylan Stewart made the defensive play they needed, and Malik Orsan made the kick. Tennessee left the door open. South Carolina walked through it.
What bothers me is how close the Vols were to a very different open week. Win, get healthy, clean up the details and keep pushing in the SEC race. Instead, the details became the reason Tennessee lost. You can point to the fourth down or the fumble, but neither explains away everything that came before it.
GMac gave me reason to want another look. Bishop gave us another game worth appreciating. The defense gave us a chance. Tennessee needs to use this break to make sure all that work counts the next time.
We have seen enough progress to expect better. That is why this one hurts.
What Tennessee Takes Home
Highlights: GMac’s progress, Bishop’s work and the defense’s second-half pressure. Lowlights: Erased touchdowns, repeated penalties and a lead left unfinished. Accolades: Bishop, Metcalf and a pass rush that kept producing.
Game facts: Official box score and play-by-play · Postgame notes · Official recap · Three erased touchdown passes · October 25 AP poll · Kentucky kickoff announcement. Published October 26, 2026.