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COLUMBIA, S.C. — Tennessee rallied from down 35-21 in the fourth quarter to post a stunning 45-42 overtime victory at South Carolina. The comeback equaled the third largest fourth-quarter comeback in Tennessee’s storied history.
With the overtime win, it marks the second year in a row that the Vols have beat South Carolina with a late field goal. The win came after a successful 32-yard field goal attempt by Aaron Medley in overtime.
The Tennessee defense took control with two back-to-back sacks from Curt Maggitt and Derek Barnett for a combined loss of 15 yards to force a South Carolina field goal attempt from 58 yards, which was short. That ignited a celebration for the Vols.
With 11 seconds left in regulation, the Vols tied up the score with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Jason Croom.
Dobbs scored on a three-yard rushing touchdown with 1:50 left in the game to cut the deficit to 42-35. Hurd had a 21-yard touchdown reception with6:34 left in the fourth quarter in the comeback effort. Hurd had seven catches for 58 yards
Josh Dobbs accounted for 467 yards and scored three rushing touchdowns to lead the Vols to their first SEC win of the season. It was Tennessee’s first win at South Carolina since 2006 as the Vols moved to 4-5 and 1-4 in the SEC.
Dobbs set a new Tennessee record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 166. He broke the record previously held by Jimmy Streater of 150 vs. California, set in 1977. Dobbs also threw for 301 yards on 23-of-40 and two touchdowns.
South Carolina is now 4-5 and 2-5 in the SEC. Receiver Pharoh Cooper had an exceptional night as he scored a receiving, rushing and pass touchdown. He finished with 286 total yards of offense and four touchdowns. He had a career-high 11 catches for a career-high 233 receiving yards, which set a new South Carolina school record. He also rushed for 23 yards and threw a 30-yard touchdown pass. Brandon Wilds caught that score from Cooper and rushed in his own touchdown for five yards out.
The Vols last won in Columbia on Oct. 28, 2006, knocking off the Gamecocks, 31-24. Tennessee has now won its last two games vs. South Carolina including last season’s 23-21 last-second victory against the then-No. 11 Gamecocks. The Vols have also won their last two games when Dobbs has started at quarterback. His last start came in the 2013 finale, a 27-14 Vols’ win at Kentucky.
Tailback Jalen Hurd ran for 125 yards, his second 100-yard rushing game of his freshman season. Hurd and Dobbs combined for the Vols first game with a pair of 100-yard rushers since the 2009 game vs. Western Kentucky (Montario Hardesty 160,Bryce Brown 104). With Pig Howard’s 109 receiving yards, the Vols posted their first game with two 100-yard rushers and a 100-yard receiver since 1994 at Vanderbilt.
Tennessee rushed for 344 yards, its most against an SEC opponent since gaining 406 against Vanderbilt in that 1994 game.
Howard posted his first career 100-yard receiving game with five receptions for a total of 109 yards. Howard also rushed for 29 yards. Von Pearson had 55 yards on four catches.
Down 21-14 at the half, South Carolina tied the game at 21 as the Cocks marched 74 yards early in the third quarter. Wilds finished the drive with a 5-yard rushing score on the heels of a 26-yard catch by Cooper puts SC into the red zone.
Dobbs gave the Vols a 21-14 lead at halftime on a 36-yard rushing score as he burst up the middle with seven seconds left in the second quarter.
The teams traded rushing scores by wide receivers in the first quarter. Cooper scored on an 11-yard dash out of the wildcat formation with 8:34left in the first. The Vols answered on a 1-yard rush by Howard, who took a reverse and went end-around for what amounted to an unofficial 11-yard run.
Dobbs’ 7-yard rushing touchdown put Tennessee ahead 14-7 with 11 minutes left in the first half on a drive keyed by a 22-yard pass from Dobbs to Howard. The Gamecocks answered on the next drive as Cooper threw the 30-yard TD to Wilds to tie the game at 14 with 6:35 left in the first half.
Junior Brian Randolph had a career-high 14 tackles. A.J. Johnson accounted for 10 tackles and moved into second place on the all-time total tackle list with 420 tackles. Derek Barnett recorded three sacks for the second time this season.
The Vols have an open date next Saturday before returning to action onNov. 15 when Kentucky comes to Neyland Stadium. The game time and television coverage for that game should be announced on Monday, Nov. 3.
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