Tennessee had more than enough chances to put South Carolina away on the road, but the Vols let the game slip late and walked out with a 27-24 loss after the Gamecocks finished the job.
Now that the dust has settled, PFF’s snap counts and grades paint a clear picture of who stood out and who didn’t in the aftermath of the collapse.
On offense, running back Javin Gordon finished with the highest grade on the team at 78.0, and he logged 14 snaps after returning from injury last week against Alabama. DeSean Bishop handled the heavier load for most of the day, grading at 70.1 across 57 snaps before leaving with an injury. Quarterback George MacIntyre came in next at 74.7 over all 78 snaps, and even though three touchdowns were wiped out by penalties, he still put together a mostly productive outing.
Mike Matthews posted a 66.9 on 69 snaps, while left tackle David Sanders Jr. came in at 66.6 in a full 78-snap workload. DaSaahn Brame graded 63.8 over 67 snaps, and Braylon Staley checked in at 63.2 with 61. Center Sam Pendelton logged all 78 snaps and earned a 62.3.
A cluster of role players saw limited work, including Luca Wolf, Ian Duarte, Travis Smith Jr., Ory Williams, Tyreek King, and Daune Morris, each with single-digit or low-double-digit snap totals. At the other end of the spectrum, Radarious Jackson had the roughest outing among the receivers, finishing at 49.3 on 33 snaps.
TK Keys started ahead of him, but Jackson ended up playing more than Keys and Travis Smith Jr. Up front, starting guards Nic Moore and Donovan Haslam also landed near the bottom of the offensive grades, with Haslam at 50.5 and Moore at 53.7.
Defensively, safety TJ Metcalf led the way with a 74.9 across 68 snaps. He recorded Tennessee’s lone interception and added another key play with a pass breakup over the middle. He was shaken up on that breakup, which is why he missed one snap and was briefly replaced by his brother, Tevis Metcalf.
Linebacker Edwin Spillman was next at 71.1, and he did it in only 17 snaps after coming off the bench. Even with that strong number, he still played fewer snaps than Amare Campbell, Arion Carter, and Jeremiah Telander. Kayin Lee graded 69.0 in 69 snaps, while Ty Redmond finished at 64.9 in the same number of plays.
Inside the defensive line rotation, JJ Finch posted a 66.1 on 14 snaps, Nathan Robinson earned a 65.1 in 31, and Carson Gentle checked in at 61.2 in just four snaps. Tyree Weathersby graded 64.0 over 44 snaps, and Jordan Norman also landed at 61.2 in 21.
Elsewhere, Qua Moss and Xavier Gilliam handled major workloads in the secondary and front seven mix, while Amare Campbell and Dejuan Lane both finished near the bottom of the defensive grades at 52.7 and 50.3. Mariyon Dye had the lowest defensive grade at 46.7.
In Other News...
Tennessee Gets Something Back After Ugly South Carolina Finish
Tennessee at least gets a small bit of relief after the messy finish in Columbia. The Southeastern Conference fined South Carolina $500,000 for the postgame field storming that followed the Gamecocks victory over the Volunteers, and that money will be paid to Tennessee as part of the leagues penalty structure.
There is a chance the fine could be reduced if South Carolina can show it made an effort to prevent the rush, but the episode still underscores how ugly the ending was for Tennessee. With that trip now behind them, the Volunteers turn the page to the rest of their football schedule, still looking to move past a game that ended with more chaos than closure. [Read more 🡒]
Which Vols Drew Harshest PFF Reviews In South Carolina Loss
Pro Football Focus had plenty to sort through after Tennessees loss to South Carolina, and the film grades offered another blunt reminder of how messy the afternoon became. PFFs system runs from 1 to 100 and is based on film study, not the full context of every assignment, so the numbers do not always line up with what coaches saw. Even so, with the Vols piling up 12 penalties and two late turnovers, there were more than a few performances that drew unfavorable reviews.
For Tennessee, the harshest grades tend to land where the mistakes showed up most clearly, especially in a game where execution kept slipping at the wrong moments. PFFs evaluation is only one lens, but it adds another layer to a frustrating loss and helps explain why the Volunteers left with so many questions about how the game got away from them. [Read more 🡒]
Arion Carter Gave Tennessee Fans A Reason To Rally After South Carolina
Arion Carter gave Tennessee fans something to hang onto beyond the result against South Carolina, even with the season already carrying an early off-field wrinkle for the linebacker. Carter was suspended for the first game of the 2026 season by the NCAA because of a reimbursed flight payment during the pre-draft process, but he has also turned his on-field production into something bigger, pledging to donate $427 for every tackle he makes this season to cancer research, a cause that is personal to him.
Against South Carolina, Carter finished with three tackles, and it was the kind of effort that fit the tone Josh Heupel was trying to strike afterward when he addressed Tennessees performance. The suspension still hangs over Carters season, but the larger story around him is becoming clear: Tennessee has a linebacker playing with a lot on his mind, and an even larger purpose attached to every stop he makes. [Read more 🡒]