Tennesee ends drought against ranked opponents
Last-second FG shocks No. 11 South Carolina
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Michael Palardy lived up to his word.
Palardy made a 19-yard field goal as time expired Saturday for a 23-21 victory over No.11South Carolina that ended the Volunteers’19-gamelosing streak against ranked opponents. Palardy had predicted such a scenario a day earlier in a conversation with Tennessee coach Butch Jones.
“I said, ‘You’ve got the game winner tomorrow, right?’ ” Jones said. “And he said, ‘I got you, Coach.’”
The loss may have proved doubly painful for South Carolina, which had a four-game winning streak snapped. Quarterback Connor Shaw left the game after being sacked by Marlon Walls and Daniel McCullers with less than five minutes remaining. South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said afterward that Shaw had a sprained knee.
“I think he sort of got tackled on it,” Spurrier said. “It collapsed under him, he said.”
Tennessee (4-3, 1-2 SEC) got into field-goal range on a spectacular 39yard catch by freshman Marquez North, who snared the ball with his left hand at the South Carolina 26 while being closely covered by cornerback Ahmad Christian down the left sideline. Four consecutive runs by Marlin Lane got the Vols to the South Carolina 2 and set up the field goal.
Palardy celebrated his game-winning kick by racing to join his team- mates on the sideline closest to the Tennessee locker room, where they gathered to celebrate at about the 15-yard line. They later ran to the other side of the field to celebrate with Tennessee’s band and students.
Tennessee coach Butch Jones chestbumped Athletic Director Dave Hart on his way off the field.
“It meant everything, to be honest with you,” Palardy said. “It’s been a long time coming.”
Mike Davis rushed for 137 yards and a touchdown for South Carolina (5-2, 3-2), which erased a17-7 halftime deficit before falling.
Shaw had a touchdown run and a touchdown pass, though he also was 7 of 21and threw his first interception of the season, ending a string of 177 consecutive passes without getting picked off.
“They came out, played fast, did the things we expect them to do,” Davis said. “We just didn’t execute.”
Tennessee hadn’t beaten a ranked foe since a 31-13 victory over No. 21 South Carolina on Oct. 31, 2009.
But on a day when hundreds of former Volunteers joined the team Saturday in running onto Neyland Stadium, Tennessee finally started playing like the Vols of old.
About 250 former Tennessee players, including All-Pro selections Al Wilson and Jamal Lewis, joined the team in going through the “T” and onto the playing field before the game.
“I was shaking all those guys’ hands earlier and told them, ‘We’ve got your back,’ ” Tennessee offensive tackle Antonio “Tiny” Richardson said. “We’re trying to get Tennessee back to where it needs to be. I think we took the first step to getting there.”