Tennessee football hasn't done much at Columbia, South Carolina, in its last few matchups.

Despite leading late into the game, the Volunteers fell in the final moments, in a 27-24 finish.

DeSean Bishop continued to be the main offensive focus, he finished the game with 120 yards on the ground over 32 carries, also adding a touchdown on the ground. He was hobbled with an undisclosed injury late in the game.

Yet one of the main things to note remains quarterback George MacIntyre having three touchdowns called back due to penalties on all three passes. Also, MacIntyre had a chance to win it in the last 2 minutes, but a fumble turned the tables and allowed South Carolina to have a walk-off field goal.

The Vols (6-2, 3-2 SEC) dug themselves into quite an early rut, as the Gamecocks (4-3, 2-3 SEC) came out swinging, scoring on their first two drives to start the afternoon.

“Credit to South Carolina, they made plays down the stretch that put them in position to win the football game,” Tennessee football head coach Josh Heupel said. “For us, guys competed hard, we didn’t play smart enough offensively.”

LaNorris Sellers got the scoring started with a 10-play drive, ending with a dump-off pass to Mazeo Bennett Jr., which he ran 17 yards in for the score.

After a quick three-and-out from the Vols’ offense, the Gamecocks were at it once again; this time they needed only two plays to find paydirt.

Back-to-back big gains, a 27-yard connection followed by a 31-yard run from Sellers, put the Gamecocks up two scores before the first quarter was even over.

The Vols followed this up with one of the longest drives in the Josh Heupel era, a 9-minute push to the end zone that ended with none other than Bishop finding the score on a 1-yard run.

The defense added its only takeaway of the game on the next Gamecocks drive, as TJ Metcalf read Sellers like a book and forced an interception. The Vols followed that up with another lengthy drive, resulting in a rushing score, this time from tight end DaSaahn Brame.

With the game knotted back at 14, the Gamecocks were able to find field goal position after a 28-yard connection from Sellers to Bennett again. Yet the Vols, unlike later, were able to answer with little time left on the clock.

Mike Matthews took a direct snap into the end zone, giving the Vols a four-point lead going into the half.

After an uneventful third quarter, where neither team scored any points, the Vols were able to add a field goal and go up seven over South Carolina with just 11 minutes to go.\

A failed fourth-down attempt with three minutes left to put the game away, in which MacIntyre seemed lost and had to take a sack, the Gamecocks had a chance to tie the game back up.

They did just that, using six plays to march into the end zone, capped off by a massive effort from Sellers to find the end zone with his legs.

“Penalties (12 for 90 yards) just crushed us, and we let a good football team hang around on the road,” Heupel said. “It’s got a chance to bite you, and it certainly did at the end.”

With just 33 seconds to go on the Vols' own 38-yard line, MacIntyre lost control of the ball thanks to some pressure from Dylan Stewart, prompting the quarterback to lose the ball and have South Carolina take over.

Despite a flag pushing the Gamecocks out of field goal range, Sellers was able to get back into kicking range with a nine-yard rush, allowing Malik Orsan to nail a game-winning 48-yard field goal.

The Vols will have a bye week up next, where they can reassess after a tough gut-punch from South Carolina. They entertain Kentucky Nov. 7.

Source: Yahoo Sports