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You’ve heard it said that some people view life with the “glass half full” mentality and others with the “glass half empty”. I happen to be a positive person who likes to look for the best even in bad situations, but there is little that I can mention that would be deemed a positive. Especially in a loss to South Carolina, a team that has not recorded an SEC championship or even a division title in their history. Even average Tennessee teams have found ways to defeat the Gamecocks in the past.
This however, is not an average Tennessee team. This team is just bad.
This season started out bad against UCLA and things have actually gotten worse. Last night the Vol offense was as bad as it’s been all year long.
207 yards of total offense is not going to get it done against anyone, and they certainly cannot afford to give the opposition 2 scores off of turnovers.
An interception of Stephens that was returned for a touchdown by South Carolina defensive back Stoney Woodson stopped one of the most promising drives of the night by Tennessee, and you could tell the game was over from that moment. Did anyone think Tennessee could overcome a 14 point deficit to anyone?
I will attempt to continue the good and bad, but there isn’t much good to speak of.
The Good:
Eric Berry might be the best defensive player in the country. He recorded his sixth interception of the season last night.
The Vol defense actually forced South Carolina to punt the ball 8 times. Many defensive players played through injuries last night and prevented this from being an all out rout.
South Carolina only gained 255 total yards on offense. That tells me that these players have not quit and they play hard regardless of the score.
The Bad:
The Vol offense under Dave Clawson actually seems to be going in reverse. Usually by game nine, teams begin to develop a rhythm on offense, but this team has no stars and seemingly no one to guide them to victory.
Turnovers: Tennessee turnovers led directly to 17 South Carolina points, something the Vols have not been doing as of late.
Rushing: The Vols gained 34 yards on 28 carries, need I say more?
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