Tennessee Vols' offense, John Kelly stiff-arm among best, worst in loss to South Carolina
Blake ToppmeyerTennessee came up 6 feet short of claiming its first SEC victory of the season on Saturday.
The Vols' furious final drive went for naught, and South Carolina prevailed 15-9 in a game the Gamecocks never led until there was 9:10 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Here are the high points and low moments of the game.
BEST OF THE DAY
Jarrett Guarantano's block
The Vols' longest running play came when Ty Chandler reversed field on a 30-yard weave during the first quarter. Guarantano, Tennessee's redshirt freshman quarterback making his first start, got downfield and threw a solid block on cornerback Rashad Fenton, helping spring Chandler.
Adams:Quarterback change doesn't change course of Tennessee season
John Kelly's stiff-arm
Kelly found little daylight throughout much of the game, but he created his own openings on a 24-yard run early in the first quarter. Kelly broke three tackles during the play, including a mean stiff-arm that he used to drive Gamecocks nickelback Jamyest Williams into the ground.
The pinch-hit starters
Kicker Brent Cimaglia started in place of Aaron Medley, who missed the game with illness. Cimaglia was 3-for-3 on field goals and booted touchbacks on three of four kickoffs.
More:Former Vols react to loss vs. South Carolina, thoughts on Butch Jones
Cimaglia shared field goal duties with Medley before Saturday, but Medley had handled all the kickoffs and extra points.
Defensive end Kyle Phillips started in place of the suspended Darrell Taylor and had three tackles, including a fourth-down stop in the second quarter.
WORST OF THE DAY
Tennessee's performance in the red zone
The Vols' first red-zone trip included a false-start penalty.
Their second red-zone trip included Guarantano being sacked for a 10-yard loss.
Their third red-zone trip included Guarantano stepping out of bounds for an 8-yard loss when he should have thrown the ball away and also a delay-of-game penalty.
Their final red-zone trip included three straight incompletions from the 2.
The Vols' second-half offense
Until the final drive, Tennessee had just one second-half first down, which came via a penalty. Guarantano was sacked five times after halftime. Kelly had 5 rushing yards in the second half on four carries. There's not a single redeeming thing you could say about the Vols' second-half offensive showing until the final drive, when Tennessee traveled 73 yards but came up 2 yards short of the end zone.
Rexrode:Butch Jones' future murky, Jarrett Guarantano's bright
The game's only extra-point attempt
South Carolina's botched extra point became an afterthought because the Gamecocks won, but it could have decided the game.
South Carolina tied the game at 9 with a touchdown late in the third quarter but squandered its chance to take a one-point lead when holder Danny Gordon couldn’t handle the extra-point snap. The play ended with Gordon throwing an incompletion under duress.