COLUMBIA, S.C. — Fresh off a statement win over Alabama, No. 11 Tennessee takes its four-game road winning streak to Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. Eastern meeting with South Carolina.
The Volunteers are 6-1 and 3-1 in the SEC. After losing their league opener to Texas, then ranked first in the country, they have won three straight conference games, most recently a 26-10 handling of the sixth-ranked Crimson Tide in Knoxville. This is the eighth game in a row for Tennessee before an open date on Oct. 31.
Defense has driven the turnaround. Tennessee leads all of FBS with 30 sacks, tops the SEC with 58 tackles for loss and gives up 14.7 points a game in its first season under coordinator Jim Knowles. Against Alabama it held the Tide to 10 points and 201 yards and forced four turnovers.
On offense, Knoxville native DeSean Bishop carried 32 times for 159 yards and two scores against Alabama, his third straight 100-yard game, and was named the Doak Walker national running back of the week. He needs 23 yards to crack the top 10 on the school career rushing list.
South Carolina sits at 3-3 and 1-3 in conference play but is rested after a bye and coming off a 38-19 win at then-No. 16 Florida on Oct. 10. Tennessee is the fourth straight ranked opponent for the Gamecocks, whose ground game leads the SEC at 232.3 rushing yards per game behind running back Matt Fuller and quarterback LaNorris Sellers.
History gives the hosts some hope. Tennessee owns the overall series 29-11-2 on the field and has taken four of the last five meetings, but the Vols are only 2-6 on their last eight visits to Columbia. The last game there, in November 2022, ended in a 63-38 South Carolina upset of a fifth-ranked Tennessee team. The teams have not met since a 41-20 Vols win in Knoxville in 2023.
The game is the 21st straight sellout at Williams-Brice, and the State Fair is running across the street, with university parking lots opening at 9 a.m.
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