CHRONICLE SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

It was just 2 weeks ago, when the South Carolina football team notched the signature win of the Will Muschamp era beating then 3rd-ranked Georgia in Athens.

Fast forward now and the Gamecocks are coming off the most embarrassing and inexplicable loss under the current regime.

The Gamecocks were outscored 24-0 in the 2nd half in Knoxville as Tennessee cruised to a 41-21 victory.

Volunteers head coach Jeremy Pruitt and his staff simply out-coached Muschamp and the Gamecocks’ staff.

Yet again, we saw how this staff seemingly doesn’t know how to make in-game adjustments to put their players in better position to succeed.

South Carolina returns to Williams-Brice Stadium Saturday night for a Homecoming tilt against Vanderbilt.

This is a battle for the bottom spot in the SEC East. The loser would fall to the bottom of the standings and, in the case of South Carolina, leave its bowl hopes in great jeopardy.

To win this game as double-digit underdogs, South Carolina will need to impose their will defensively. Line up in man coverage on the outside and force the Commodores to beat you over the top.

The pass rush that was seemingly non-existent in Knoxville will need to be ramped up on Saturday. Javon Kinlaw, Aaron Sterling, and others will need to wreak havoc for this defense to be successful.

Offensively, the staff needs to get out of their own way. There simply has not been a rhythm or an identifiable plan of attack. Allow Tavien Feaster to feast in the ground game and quarterback Ryan Hilinski to have easy throws off of play action.

According to Muschamp, backup quarterback Dakareon Joyner is healthy enough to play. If he is, put him in the game.

This offense needs some sort of life to score more than 21 points on Saturday night.

Last week, I predicted a Gamecock victory. This week, I hesitantly take South Carolina to pick up their 4th win of the season. But no one should be confident in this team anymore.

Kickoff is at 7:30 pm and the game will air on the SEC Network. It can also be heard on WNKT (107.5 FM) and on the TuneIn Radio phone app.

Justin Hall is the director of media/ broacasting for the Lexington County Blowfish. He’s also the co-host of the ‘Fifth Quarter Post-Game Show’ on WVOC (560 AM) with former Gamecock Tim Frisby.