Grading South Carolina football upset vs Tennessee: How could we not give an overall A+

COLUMBIA — South Carolina football stunned No. 5 Tennessee in a 63-38 upset at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday night.

The Gamecocks (7-4, 4-4 SEC) led the Vols (9-2, 5-2) wire-to-wire and outscored Tennessee's high-powered offense in both the first and fourth quarters. It was South Carolina's first win over the Vols since 2018 and its seventh consecutive win in a night game this year.

Here's how we graded the Gamecocks' biggest victory of the season:

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Offense: A+

After South Carolina had perhaps its worst offensive performance of the season against Florida, quarterback Spencer Rattler came out with a vengeance against Tennessee. The Oklahoma transfer entered the game with one three-touchdown performance at Vanderbilt, then threw six against the Vols for a new career high. He went 30-of-37 passing for 438 yards, and Antwane Wells led the receivers with 177 receiving yards and a rushing touchdown.

The Gamecocks only had to punt once and put together seven drives of 65 yards or longer out of 12. South Carolina scored 35 points in the first half, the most by any Gamecocks team in a half against an SEC opponent since 1995.

Defense: A-

The Gamecocks' defense didn't have a strong start, allowing Tennessee to score in just 60 seconds on its opening drive off of two 20-plus yard rushing plays. However, they settled in quickly and forced a punt on the following drive that set the tone for the rest of the game.

The unit's game plan was to prevent explosive plays and yards after the catch, and it did that exceptionally well despite several injuries and safety Nick Emmanwori's targeting ejection. The Vols entered Williams-Brice Stadium averaging 47.4 points per game, and exited well below that with three drives ending in punts.

Special teams: A

The special teams didn't have to do much tonight for the first time in a while, and that's a good thing. Mitch Jeter didn't leave any points on the field, going 9-9 on extra points.

Coaching: A

South Carolina came out extremely aggressive in its play-calling, leaning heavily on the passing game and going for it on fourth down on back to back drives that both resulted in touchdowns. Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield's job has been on the ropes for weeks, but he adds a pretty impressive line to his resume to the tune of 63 points against a top-5 team.

Overall: A+

South Carolina lost 38-6 to Florida but bounced back to dominate the Vols and doom their College Football Playoff opportunity. If that doesn't deserve an A+, nothing does.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina football report card vs Tennessee: Gamecocks get A-plus