Tennessee’s next trip to Columbia has a kickoff time, and the Vols are headed back into a familiar kind of spotlight.
The SEC announced Monday that Tennessee’s Oct. 24 game at South Carolina will start at 3:30 p.m. and air on either ESPN or the SEC Network. Oklahoma-Mississippi State is the other matchup that could land on one of those two channels.
For Tennessee, it’s the first visit to Williams-Brice Stadium since the 63-37 loss there in 2022 - the kind of defeat that stunned the Vols and knocked them out of contention for the then-four-team College Football Playoff. This year’s game also fits into a run of afternoon kickoffs the SEC laid out back in June, when it released television windows for Tennessee’s final eight league games.
That South Carolina trip lands after Tennessee faces Alabama in the annual Third Saturday in October game this week. It will also be the Vols’ eighth game in eight straight weeks.
The rest of Tennessee’s SEC schedule is taking shape, too. The Vols still have two FLEX games left, which means those matchups could kick off in the afternoon or under the lights: at Texas A&M on Nov. 14 and at home against LSU on Nov.
- Tennessee’s November dates with Kentucky on Nov. 7 and Vanderbilt on Nov. 28 are set for night kickoffs.
So far this season, Tennessee has already seen a little of everything in the TV and kickoff department. The Vols opened with an afternoon start against Furman, then went to night games at Georgia Tech and against Kennesaw State.
The Texas game was assigned a noon kickoff on ABC in the summer, and last week’s Alabama game was set for 3:30 p.m. before being finalized as an ABC broadcast late Saturday night. That makes it Tennessee’s third straight afternoon game, following the Auburn home game at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN and the Arkansas road game at 4:15 p.m. on the SEC Network.
South Carolina will come in rested. The Gamecocks are off this week after moving to 3-3 with a 38-19 surprise over Florida in The Swamp on Saturday.
Before that, SEC play had been rough. South Carolina dropped a 41-34 shootout to Mississippi State and a 35-34 overtime game to Kentucky at home, and was beaten 49-18 at Alabama.
In both losses to Mississippi State and Kentucky, the Gamecocks jumped out to big leads - 16-0 against Mississippi State and 17-0 against Kentucky - before letting both slip away. Their two non-conference wins came against Kent State and Towson.
Sixth-year head coach Shane Beamer had taken heat for the slow start, but the win in Gainesville changed the mood fast. South Carolina knocked off then-No. 16 Florida on its own field, then got an extra week to regroup before Tennessee arrives.
It will be the first meeting between the former SEC East rivals since 2023, after the teams went the first two seasons of the 16-team SEC without facing each other. Tennessee won the most recent matchup, rolling to a 41-20 revenge victory in a Dark Mode game at Neyland Stadium. That win pushed the Vols’ all-time record against South Carolina to 29-11-2.
Tennessee has won 10 of its 20 games in Columbia, though Williams-Brice has produced plenty of trouble over the years. The Vols have lost eight times there, including damaging defeats in 1992, 2016 and 2022, and they’ve tied twice.
South Carolina won three of four straight games at Williams-Brice that were decided by three points before Tennessee’s four-point win there in 2020. The blowout in 2022 broke that run.
In Other News...
Tennessee Faces One Huge QB Decision Before Alabama Arrives
Josh Heupel still has not said who will get the first snap at quarterback when Tennessee meets Alabama, and that uncertainty hangs over everything the Vols are doing this week. George MacIntyre helped sharpen the conversation with a steady first career start against Arkansas, showing the kind of composure and willingness to attack downfield that can matter in a big-game setting.
MacIntyre finished 18 of 29 for 247 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, a line that reflected both the promise and the risk that come with leaning on a young passer. Faizon Brandon is still working back from injury and had been less effective in recent games, so Tennessee enters one of its biggest games without a clear answer at the sports most important position. [Read more 🡒]
Heupel Hinted At Two Big Tennessee Concerns Before Alabama
The build-up to Tennessees trip to Alabama has the feel of a measuring-stick game, and Josh Heupel knows it. With both teams sitting at 5-1 and the Volunteers headed in as the 14th-ranked team against No. 6 Alabama, the head coach spent his time with the media leaning into the standard issues that come with a rivalry of this size: preparation, execution and the need for individual players to be ready for every snap.
Heupel also touched on the matchup in a way that suggested Tennessee has already identified the places where this game could tilt, even before the teams take the field Saturday. For a Vols team trying to keep pace in the national picture, the stakes are obvious, but so is the challenge of handling an Alabama opponent that has not given many easy answers in this rivalry. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama May Be Missing The Weapon Tennessee Feared Most
Alabamas passing game may be heading into Saturdays matchup with Tennessee without its most productive target. Ryan Coleman-Williams is not expected to play because of head and leg injuries, and coach Kalen DeBoer said the receiver is also dealing with a knee issue as the Tide work through the week.
For a Tennessee defense already bracing for a major SEC test, the injury status matters because Coleman-Williams has been Alabamas leader in receptions, yards and touchdowns this season. DeBoer indicated the receiver is expected to be week-to-week after the Tennessee game, leaving the Vols to prepare for a version of Alabama that may look a little different than expected. [Read more 🡒]