South Carolina-Tennessee football prediction: Gamecocks looking for a good start
It’s that time, folks, as South Carolina football finally makes its return to the field for an honest-to-goodness actual game.
The meeting with Tennessee is going to be strange with a smaller crowd and perhaps a few faces missing between coronavirus cases and contact tracing.
But between COVID and everything else, the matchup is an interesting one. The Gamecocks are looking to continue their defensive success and jump-start an offense that fell apart last season.
The Vols have a potentially ferocious defense coming back, but have their own rebuilding project on offense, as a scheme carried by receivers will have to rely on its running game and hope quarterback Jarrett Guarantano takes another step. Last year’s meeting keyed a win streak the Vols carried through the schedule while it cost South Carolina a crucial win in terms of bowl hopes.
This game looms large for the Gamecocks because a loss puts them a bit more behind the eight ball in terms of getting to .500 or better with a 10-game conference-only season. USC opened as a field-goal underdog at home, and that number bumped by half a point.
But it’s a new season, one that was far from guaranteed. So let’s start out a little optimistic for the folks in Columbia.
The Pick: South Carolina 23, Tennessee 20
This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 5:10 AM.
