Tennessee's late fourth-down mix-up and MacIntyre fumble hand South Carolina a 27-24 win
A missed handoff on fourth-and-1 and a strip-sack in the final minute turned a Tennessee lead into a 27-24 loss at South Carolina.
Tennessee held a 24-17 lead at Williams-Brice Stadium with 3:35 to play on Saturday. It still lost. In the final minutes, two plays involving sophomore quarterback George MacIntyre handed South Carolina a 27-24 win. The Vols fall to 6-2, and their margin for error in the College Football Playoff race is close to gone.
Adam Sparks of the Knoxville News Sentinel, whose story also ran in The Tennessean, reported that the first mistake came on fourth-and-1 from Tennessee's jumbo formation. MacIntyre faked to fullback DaSaahn Brame and turned toward running back Javin Gordon for a pitch, but nothing was there and he went down behind the line. The play was apparently designed as a handoff to Brame, who got past the marker without the ball. Brame had scored a 1-yard touchdown on the same call in the second quarter. Josh Heupel put the failure on missteps by his quarterback. MacIntyre called it a miscommunication on a formation the Vols had used all night. Heupel said he went for it because he liked the call, Tennessee had converted all three of its earlier fourth downs, and the alternative was a field goal of 55 yards or more.
South Carolina then tied the game. Tennessee got the ball back with 33 seconds left and needed about 25 yards to reach Cooper Ranvier's range. On first down, both of Tennessee's tackles lost their matchups. Anthony Addison slipped past David Sanders with a swim move, and Dylan Stewart bull-rushed Jesse Perry. The two met at MacIntyre, and Stewart's hit knocked the ball loose. South Carolina recovered, ran the clock down, and Malik Orsan made a 48-yard field goal as time expired, ESPN reported. Fans then stormed the field.
The late mistakes came after a night of self-inflicted damage. Both outlets counted three Tennessee touchdowns wiped out by flags, including two scoring catches by Braylon Staley. The penalty totals differed: the News Sentinel had 12 for 90 yards, while ESPN listed eight for 60. MacIntyre finished 16 of 23 for 136 yards in his third career start. He said it was "one of the most frustrating games I've ever played in," according to the News Sentinel. Tennessee has now lost seven of its last nine trips to Columbia.
What it means for the next game
Tennessee has an open week before No. 12 Kentucky visits Neyland Stadium on November 7. Both of the Vols' losses have come by three points: 17-20 to No. 1 Texas and now 24-27 here. In between, they beat Auburn, Arkansas and No. 6 Alabama, the last one 26-10. The offense has been held to 24 points or fewer in five straight games, and the jumbo-package mix-up gives the staff something to fix in the week off. The News Sentinel noted that one more loss would likely knock Tennessee out of the playoff picture, with four regular-season games left.
Kentucky has a result that ties into this one. It won 35-34 at South Carolina, the same building where Tennessee lost on Saturday.
South Carolina is 4-3 and has won two straight over ranked teams, 38-19 at No. 16 Florida and now this game. That run followed three straight losses, two of them close games at home. The Gamecocks play at Oklahoma on October 31 on SEC Network. Their pass rush, led by Stewart, has a new highlight to build on.
