University of Tennessee Athletics
October 21, 2002 | Football
| Tennessee 17, South Carolina 10 October 27, 2001, Knoxville, Tenn.
KNOXVILLE-- Tennessee and South Carolina engaged in some old time Southeastern Conference football at Neyland Stadium. And for the Gamecocks, it was just like old times. The Vols kept their perfect home record intact against USC by claiming a 17-10 decision that again came down to fourth-quarter superiority.
After Albert Haynesworth stopped South Carolina's Andrew Pinnock for no gain at the UT 1 on third-and-goal, forcing a tying field goal with 13:21 remaining, the Vols drove 70 yards in 12 plays for the deciding touchdown. "The goal line stand that held them to a field goal was huge," UT coach Phillip Fulmer said. " Albert Haynesworth made a great play. It was just huge as it turned out." It also turned out that South Carolina again failed in its attempt to break through to the top of the SEC's Eastern Division, as the Vols improved to 11-0 against USC at Neyland Stadium. It marked the second year in a row the Gamecocks had entered this contest with just a single loss. "What do you say?" asked USC's Lou Holtz. "We were one play short. They made a great play on third down. Haynesworth went over the top of us. It shouldn't have happened. No way." As had been the case through much of UT's season, the Vols offense began and ended with Travis Stephens. His 8-yard TD run in the second quarter opened the scoring, and his 1-yard plunge with 7:08 to play ended it. For the game, the senior tailback gained 120 yards on 28 carries. Both Tennessee TD drives were kept alive by sparkling third-down completions from Casey Clausen to the dependable Bobby Graham, who made three receptions in the contest for 52 yards. During the second quarter, Clausen found Graham on third-and-eight for 15 yards to the USC 8, from where Stephens swept into the end zone on the next play. Then in the fourth quarter, facing third-and-21 at the USC 36, Clausen found Graham again racing over the middle of the secondary for 32 yards to the Gamecocks 4. Two plays later, UT had the lead for keeps. "Third down conversions were big for them," Holtz said. "On the third-down conversion in the fourth quarter, we were in a zone blitz. It's hard to match up on their receivers." Clausen overcame an early interception and five sacks to throw for 211 yards on 14 completions. Kelley Washington caught five passes for 89 yards. Defensively, Haynesworth finished the game with seven tackles, including three for lost yardage, a pass deflection and three quarterback hurries. Linebacker Eddie Moore added seven tackles and forced a fumble that he recovered. The Gamecocks scored just before halftime on Derek Watson's seven-yard reception of a Phil Petty pass.
SCORING SUMMARY
RUSHING: PASSING: RECEIVING: FIELD GOALS: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
