College Football Playoff Top 25: Where Tennessee is ranked after losing at South Carolina
Tennessee football dropped to No. 10 in the updated College Football Playoff Top 25 on Tuesday, moving down five spots after the loss at South Carolina on Saturday night.
The top four remained the same, with Georgia at No. 1 ahead of No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 TCU. LSU is No. 5 with USC at No. 6, Alabama at No. 7, Clemson at No. 8 and Oregon at No. 9.
The Vols (9-2, 5-2 SEC) end the regular-season schedule at Vanderbilt (5-6, 2-5) on Saturday in a 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time kickoff at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville. The game will be televised by SEC Network.
Tennessee on Monday dropped four spots in the Associated Press Top 25 and six spots in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler completed 30 of 37 passes for 438 yards and six touchdowns while picking apart the Tennessee defense. The 63 points the Gamecocks scored were the most allowed by the Vols in the modern era.
Injury bug bites Vols in loss at South Carolina
Hendon Hooker completed 25 of 42 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns, running five times for 25 more yards, but left the game in the fourth quarter with a left leg, non-contact injury. Joe Milton III replaced Milton, completing 4 of 8 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown.
Jabari Small rushed 11 times for 80 yards and a touchdown to lead Tennessee on the ground. Cedric Tillman caught nine passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns.
The injury bug also bit Tennessee in the secondary, with Brandon Turnage leaving the game with an injury. Wide receiver Bru McCoy didn’t play in the second half while dealing with an undisclosed injury.
Senior linebacker Jeremy Banks did not travel with the team to South Carolina for reasons that have not been specified by head coach Josh Heupel. But Heupel did say during his weekly press conference on Monday that he does “anticipate” Banks to be available this week.
“We anticipate Jeremy being with us here this week,” Heupel said. “As far as what transpired and those type of things, at the end of the day, he wasn’t available on Saturday.”
Up Next: Tennessee at Vanderbilt, 7:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, SEC Network
The Vols lost out on their bid for a College Football Playoff semifinal berth with the loss. Still on the table are spots in New Year’s Six Bowl games, though, including the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl. See the latest bowl projections here.
“For us, and this program, this one needs to hurt on the way back,” Heupel said after the loss at South Carolina. “It needs to hurt for guys that aren’t on this trip, that will be in our building tomorrow afternoon and will be there on Monday.
“For us to grow as a program, you’ve got to look at this opportunity and understand what happened. Let it hurt. And remember that as you move forward. Let it help you grow.”
Tennessee has won its last three games against Vanderbilt, but the ‘Dores are coming off of upset wins over Kentucky, on the road, and Florida, on Saturday in Nashville.
The Vols won 22 in a row in the Vanderbilt series between 1982 and 2004, before Vandy’s 28-24 win at Neyland Stadium in 2005. Tennessee responded six straight wins, before the ‘Dores won 41-18 in Nashville in 2012, leading to the firing of Dooley the following day.
