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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Same old Tennessee. And, for one game,
same old South Carolina.
|  | | South Carolina's Derek Watson was held to five yards on 11 carries by the Vols' defense. |
Travis Henry scored on a 1-yard run with 26 seconds to go as
Tennessee overcame a sluggish effort to earn a 17-14 victory over South Carolina (No. 18 ESPN/USA Today, No. 17 AP) on Saturday, the Vols' eighth straight victory over the Gamecocks.
"We just wanted to come out and show everybody we're still
Tennessee," said Donte Stallworth, who had six catches, including
one for 23 yards that kept alive the Vols' final drive. "We hadn't
done that most of the year."
Tennessee (4-3, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) sure didn't look
like the 1998 national champions or even the team that won nine
games a year ago. A loss to South Carolina would have been the
Vols' fourth in the league, their most in 23 years.
And things weren't going right at Williams-Brice in front of a
record 84,200 fans.
The Volunteers had 127 yards through three quarters. Their only
score came on Henry's first 1-yard TD that followed a muffed punt
by Derek Watson deep in South Carolina territory.
But behind Henry's running and the leadership of freshman
quarterback Casey Clausen, Tennessee got it together in the final
15 minutes.
"I think this might have saved the season," said Henry, who
finished with 115 yards and two touchdowns. "We just kept fighting
and maybe wore them out."
The Vols drove 34 yards for an Alex Wells field goal and then
went 68 yards for the winning score as Henry leaped over the time
with less than half-a-minute left.
Henry carried 10 times for 35 yards on the winning drive, and
Clausen converted third-down passes of 4 and 23 yards to keep
things rolling.
Clausen was 19-of-31 for 152 yards in his second career start.
"It was do or die and our offense did it," receiver Cedric
Wilson said. "I wish it could've been prettier, but we got the
win."
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Sat, October 28
The Gamecocks had a great game today. South Carolina played as well as they could have on the defensive side of the ball. They controlled this one until Tennessee came up with the final successful drive. Veteran coaches will get that done. Casey Clausen, and the young Volunteer offensive line must feel great about they way the hung on for the final push. This was a coming of age game for the Vols, and you'd better believe they will be team to be reckoned with next year.
Lou Holtz' squad did as much as they could do today -- they just got beat by another pretty good team. You can't forget, the other guys are on scholarship, too.
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For South Carolina (7-2, 5-2), it was a disappointing way to
finish its home season. A victory would have sent the Gamecocks to
Florida's Swamp in two weeks for a shot at the SEC title game.
But they played more like their offense of a year ago, which
scored less than 8 points a game instead of this year's version,
which is averaging more than 26.
Still, things were looking good after Ryan Brewer's 78-yard
touchdown catch put them up 14-7 in the third quarter.
But Tennessee had the ball for 12:38 of the final quarter and
wore down South Carolina.
"This was critical, because we are going into an impossible
situation at Florida," South Carolina coach Lou Holtz said. "We
can't even move the ball here without mistakes."
When Tennessee got inside South Carolina's 30 on the next
series, linebacker Shannon Wadley stripped tailback Travis Henry
and defensive end Kalimba Edwards recovered.
But South Carolina, which had moved the ball for most of the
game, couldn't hold up against Tennessee's defense. The Gamecocks'
two fourth-quarter drives went three and out, and Phil Petty was
sacked by Will Overstreet as time ran out.
South Carolina's leading rusher, Watson, was held to 5 yards on
11 carries.
"Losing this one is bitter," Holtz said. "We will go on from
here."
There were scouts from six bowls, including the Sugar and
Cotton, on hand at Williams-Brice. But neither team looked
postseason worthy in the first half.
After Henry's first touchdown, South Carolina's tying score came
when lineman Kalimba Edwards went 81 yards with a ball off the
fingers of receiver Cedric Williams.
Other than that, it was a first-half of mistakes and really dumb
plays.
The Gamecocks fumbled four times. Tennessee gained only 93
yards.
Clausen, a freshman starting his second game, was sacked twice
and overthrew open receivers.
After South Carolina drove to Tennessee's 39, offensive lineman
Shane Hall jumped twice for false start penalties.
The Gamecocks had its best chance to score right before the
half, driving to the Vols' 15. But a false start penalty, an 8-yard
sack by defensive tackle John Henderson and a failed fake field
goal left things tied.
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
Tennessee Clubhouse
South Carolina Clubhouse
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