Tennessee is heading to Columbia this Saturday dressed for a road fight.
The No. 11 Vols will face South Carolina in an SEC matchup at 3:30 p.m.
ET at Williams-Brice Stadium, and they’re doing it in all-white uniforms: white helmets, white jerseys, and white pants. Tennessee also looks set to pair those with orange accessories and black gloves to match up against the Gamecocks’ garnet or black home look.
It’s the third time this season Tennessee has gone with the all-white set away from Knoxville. The Vols wore that combo at Georgia Tech and again two weeks ago at Arkansas, and both trips ended with Tennessee wins.
This one comes with Tennessee carrying momentum from last weekend’s huge win over Alabama in Neyland Stadium. Josh Heupel pointed Monday to the challenge ahead and the conditions waiting in Columbia.
“Obviously, going to South Carolina this week, facing a football team that’s playing really well,” Josh Heupel said on Monday. “You look at the ability to go on the road two weeks ago against Florida and come away with the win, played extremely well in all three phases of the football game.
We understand the environment, what we’re getting into and we need to prepare, be elite in our preparation. Them having a bye week last week, an extra week on us, we got to make up that ground in our preparation and practice.
We’ll get ready to go play smart football on the road here to get a win.”
Tennessee has not officially announced George MacIntyre as the starter, but everything points that way. He’s steadied the Vols through the SEC stretch, helping guide comeback and road wins over Auburn and Arkansas, along with the win over Alabama. He hasn’t been putting up eye-popping numbers, but his steadiness has given Tennessee a better balance in key spots.
Here’s how Tennessee’s uniform choices have broken down so far this season:
Week 1 vs Furman: Traditional Orange & White
Week 2 at Georgia Tech: All-White
Week 3 vs Kennesaw State: Traditional Orange & White
Week 4 vs Texas: Traditional Orange & White
Week 5 vs Auburn: Neyland Legacy Smokey Grey
Week 6 at Arkansas: All-White
Week 7 vs Alabama: Traditional Orange & White
Week 8 at South Carolina: All-White
South Carolina enters at 3-3, while Tennessee comes in at 6-1.
In Other News...
Tennessee Just Entered A Bigger Week 8 Conversation
Week 8s upset watch has the Vols squarely in the middle of the conversation after another round of speculative picks pointed to Tennessee as a team that could shake up the weekend. The matchup against South Carolina has enough intrigue on its own, but the broader context matters too, with the Volunteers sitting among a handful of teams being eyed as potential spoiler candidates in a slate that also features picks like Duke over Virginia, UCF over BYU, Kansas over Baylor and Houston over Utah.
For Tennessee, the attention is less about the prediction itself and more about what it says about how the team is being viewed right now. Analysts digging into recent performances and player impact see enough uncertainty in the matchup to make the Vols part of a bigger upset discussion, which is exactly the kind of weekly conversation that can follow a program when the results start drawing notice beyond one game. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Just Got More Doubt Ahead Of A Game Fans Fear Most
The build-up to Tennessees trip to Williams-Brice Stadium already had plenty of tension, and David Pollack only added to it this week. The former Georgia standout and SEC analyst picked South Carolina to upset the No. 11 Volunteers, pointing to the Gamecocks running game and physical style as the reasons he likes their chances in a matchup that has become one of the more closely watched games on the schedule.
It is the kind of forecast that tends to land differently with Tennessee fans, especially with emotions already running high around this one. The numbers are not unanimous either, since betting odds give South Carolina a slight edge while ESPNs Football Power Index still leans toward Tennessee, leaving the Vols caught between conflicting signals and a growing sense that the game many fans fear most may be even trickier than it first looked. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessees Passing Game Has A Real Opening If The Vols Hold Up Front
South Carolinas numbers in SEC play offer Tennessee a clear reason to keep the ball in the air. The Gamecocks have been giving up plenty of passing yardage and a high completion rate in conference games, which opens a path for the Vols if they can turn a favorable matchup into steady production. For Tennessee, it is less about chasing some grand offensive reinvention and more about taking what the defense has already put on tape.
The key, of course, is everything around George MacIntyre. If the pass protection holds up, the quarterback has a chance to work through his reads without the offense getting knocked off schedule, and Tennessees receivers and running backs will need to do their part to finish plays and stay disciplined in their assignments. The opening is there, but whether the Vols can actually exploit it will come down to how cleanly they operate at the line of scrimmage and how well MacIntyre handles the decisions in front of him. [Read more 🡒]