Vol Report: Offense Receives High Marks in South Carolina

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – As the Tennessee football team returned to practice on Monday at Haslam Field, head coach Jeremy Pruitt said the Vols had their best offensive game of the season on Saturday in the 27-24 loss at South Carolina.

Despite the defeat, Tennessee was able to methodically use quick passes and screens to keep the Gamecocks off balance early while converting a season-high 68.8 percent of third downs (11-of-16) and committing zero turnovers. The Vols lacked explosive plays, but put together several long, clock-eating drives.

"Far and away this was our best output offensively," Pruitt said. "We weren't just relying on explosive plays, but we need to create more, and we had opportunities to do that, but we had breakdowns in protection. A couple of times I didn't feel like we threw the ball to the right side of the field, and then we had a drop. The plays were there to be made from the explosive standpoint, but I thought from an execution [standpoint] and kind of getting more plays right, that was far and away our best game offensively. We didn't turn the ball over, [and] converted third downs. We just killed ourselves with penalties."

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Jarrett Guarantano tallied career highs in completions (27) and attempts (39), while throwing for 207 yards and two touchdowns. Guarantano was knocked out of the game a week earlier at Alabama in the second quarter, but he played every snap against South Carolina.

"I thought he showed a lot of courage, played really hard and was a really good leader for our team," Pruitt said. "We just need to fix those other plays, and he can do that. We ask him to do a lot of things, which, I think it helps our offense. He gets us in the right plays in the run game, we can make checks from run to pass, he can change protections. There's a lot of demand on him and he can handle it. There's just a few things that we got to fix from this past week."

Guarantano has started all eight games in 2018, completing 64.4 percent of his passes for 1,399 yards and eight touchdowns with just two interceptions. He ranks fourth in the SEC in pass efficiency rating (144.78) and fifth in completion percentage, while only Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa has thrown less interceptions.

Tennessee's offense also received a spark from junior running back Carlin Fils-aime at Williams-Brice Stadium. Fils-aime returned to the offensive backfield last week after moving to cornerback last spring. He rushed three times for 20 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown early in the third quarter that gave the Vols a 21-9 lead.

Tennessee's offense stalled in the fourth quarter, however, and penalties ultimately doomed the Vols, as South Carolina came back to win.

"There's lots of lessons that we can learn, and we've got to take them and move forward," Pruitt said. "I thought that last week we practiced really well, and I think it showed in the game and how we performed, but we have to be able to finish and find ways to win games like that."

Next Up: Charlotte
Pruitt and the Vols know they cannot overlook this week's opponent, Charlotte, with three SEC games looming down the stretch. The 49ers bring a 4-4 record to Neyland Stadium after defeating Southern Miss, 20-17, on Saturday. Charlotte is coached by Brad Lambert, who helped move the program form FCS to FBS. He was an assistant at Wake Forest, Georgia and Marshall before taking the reigns of Charlotte.

The 49ers are paced by a defense that is yielding only 89.8 rushing yards per game (No. 6 in the nation) and 318.6 total yards per game (No. 18 in the nation), while linebacker Juwan Foggie leads the country in interceptions with six.

"We've got a really good opponent this week in Charlotte," Pruitt said. "Their coaching staff has a ton of experience. They're very well coached, offensively and defensively. They eliminate the run in the run game. They get lots of turnovers. They give you multiple looks offensively and then run the football. I know they've had an injury at quarterback, but they've got a guy that has experience. The guys are well coached in the special teams. We've got to focus on us and try to improve, I think when we do that it shows up on Saturdays. Then we have to take it to the game and we have to do a good job of finishing in the game."

Saturday's game (4 p.m., SEC Network-Alternate) marks Homecoming for the University of Tennessee. Former Tennessee defensive back Inky Johnson is this year's Homecoming Grand Marshall.

University of Tennessee Athletics

Vol Report: Offense Receives High Marks in South Carolina

Players Mentioned

Carlin Fils-aime

Jarrett Guarantano

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