Gameday Guide: South Carolina vs. Tennessee TV info, top storylines, more

South Carolina and Tennessee will face off Saturday afternoon in Knoxville, Tenn.

GAME INFO

▪  WHO: South Carolina (3-5, 1-5 SEC) at Tennessee (4-4, 2-3)

▪  WHEN: 4 p.m. Saturday

▪  WHERE: Neyland Stadium (102,455), Knoxville, Tenn.

▪  TV: SEC Network

▪  RADIO: WNKT-FM 107.5 (Todd Ellis, Tommy Suggs, Langston Moore)

▪  SATELLITE RADIO: Sirius 83/XM 190

▪  LINE: Tennessee by 16 1/2

▪  SERIES RECORD: Tennessee leads 24-7-2; last three games have been decided by three points or less

▪  WEATHER REPORT: Chance of precipitation is 80 percent during the day, mainly before 4 p.m. High near 62. North wind 5 to 10 mph. A 30 percent chance of showers during game time.

▪  JERSEY REPORT: The Gamecocks will wear white jerseys and black pants on Saturday.

NUMBERS

▪  2.67: Average margin of victory in the last three games in the series (Tennessee 2-1).

▪  8: Consecutive scoring drives for Tennessee in its last game, a 52-21 pasting of Kentucky.

▪  128/2: Brandon Wilds’ rushing yards and touchdowns in his last game.

▪  286: Total yards of offense from Pharoh Cooper in his last game against Tennessee, where he scored touchdowns throwing, rushing and receiving.

▪  3: Fourth-quarter leads blown by the Volunteers this season, leading to three of their four losses.

FIVE STORYLINES

1. UNLEASHED

South Carolina’s offense looked the best it has all season against Texas A&M, and head coach Shawn Elliott said it’s not done yet. There are always wrinkles, tweaks and additions to stick here and there to make it unpredictable. The Gamecocks need all of it, and as many points as possible.

2. DO. SOMETHING.

The Gamecocks stayed in one defensive set 75 percent of the time during the first half against A&M. It didn’t get better in the second until Skai Moore asked to go to a simpler scheme. The Volunteers are averaging over 36 points per game. USC has to find some way to cut that way down.

3. IN THE SEATS

USC is having enough trouble stopping opposing offenses, so it can’t give away points to special teams. Evan Berry leads the country with 42.6 yards per kickoff return, and the Vols are the No. 1 team with 40.4. Landon Ard is going to have to give it the ol’ steroid jerk and boom the ball into the base of the goalpost.

4. THIRD TIME

The Gamecocks have only won twice at Neyland Stadium. The Vols are not unbeatable (are they, Arkansas?) and especially not if they have a fourth-quarter lead (right, Oklahoma, Alabama and Florida?). USC nearly pulled it off in College Station. To have any hope for this season, the Gamecocks have to get this one.

5. ROH-ZO

Brandon Wilds is coming off his best game, which is good, but Pharoh Cooper and Lorenzo Nunez weren’t used much at A&M. That needs to change. The two most dynamic athletes on the field need the ball in their hands as much as possible. Asking the defense to stand up is not an option.

THREE VOLS TO WATCH

1. Sophomore running back Jalen Hurd is a tough runner who also has breakaway speed. Through eight games, he has 725 rushing yards, is averaging 4.5 yards per carry and has 11 total touchdowns.

2. South Carolina knows all about Tennessee quarterback Josh Dobbs after he became the first Tennessee player ever to put up 300 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in the same game last year against the Gamecocks. He’s rushed for 438 yards and seven touchdowns so far this season, which is scary for a USC defense that struggled to stop Texas A&M quarterback Kyler Murray from running the ball last week.

3. Junior linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin had more than 100 tackles last season and is on pace to reach that mark again. He leads the Vols in tackles with 73 — 22 more than anyone else on the team — and also is the team-leader in tackles for loss with 10.5.

HE’S OUT

Tennessee starting CB Emmanuel Moseley will miss the first half against the Gamecocks after being ejected for targeting in the second half of Tennessee’s win over Kentucky. Moseley leads the Volunteers in pass breakups with eight.

USC DEPTH CHART

OFFENSE

WR – NEAL (Belton)

WR – P. COOPER (Heard)

WR – GOOGER (Jeffery or Hurst)

LT – SHELL (Pellage)

LG – MATULIS (Park)

C – KNOTT (Bailey)

RG – SPORT (Stanley)

RT – ZANDI (Camper)

TE – ADAMS (Markway, Crosby)

QB – ORTH (Nunez, Mitch, Scarnecchia)

FB – BEDENBAUGH

TB – WILDS (Williams, Carson)

DEFENSE

DE – WHITLOW (D. Johnson, English)

DT – SAWYER (Griffin)

NT – DIXON JR. (Dukes, Lamin)

DE – LEWIS (Dixon, C. Cooper)

WLB – MOORE (Walton)

MLB – HOLLOMAN (Allen-Williams)

SLB – BRYANT (Hawkins)

SPUR – GURLEY (Sasser)

LCB – HARRIS (Lammons)

FS – I. JOHNSON (Moody)

SS – D. SMITH (Diggs)

RCB – MCWILLIAMS (Fenton, J. Smith)

SPECIAL TEAMS

KO – ARD (Fry)

PK – FRY (Ard)

P – KELLY (Almond)

KR – FENTON (Talley)

PR – P. COOPER

SN – DR. WILLIAMS (McGriff)

H – KELLY (Ard)

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 9:49 PM with the headline "Gameday Guide: South Carolina vs. Tennessee TV info, top storylines, more."