Over the Rocky Top

By Joseph Person
The State
Published: October 30, 2005

It was just like old times Saturday at Neyland Stadium.

Peyton Manning was in the house. So was Steve Spurrier, and the Head Ball Coach again left town with a smile on his face and big win under his belt.

Josh Brown kicked a career-long, 49-yard field goal with 2:45 remaining to lift USC to a 16-15 victory against No. 23 Tennessee, ending a dozen years of frustration against the Volunteers and giving Spurrier his biggest win since taking over at USC in November.

USC (5-3, 3-3 in SEC) ended a 12-year winless drought against Tennessee and won for the first time in Knoxville. The Gamecocks' last victory against the Volunteers (3-4, 2-4) was a 24-23 win in Columbia on Oct. 31, 1992.

"We've never won here," Gamecocks quarterback Blake Mitchell said. "We made history tonight."

Spurrier improved to 9-4 against the Vols and 8-3 against Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer. The former Florida coach was 3-0 against Tennessee when Manning, whose No. 16 jersey was retired Saturday, was the Vols' starting quarterback.

"This was big for our football program and the University of South Carolina," Spurrier said. "It's good to beat one of the (SEC's top teams). Georgia, Tennessee, Florida - they're the big three in the East."

Mitchell completed 11 consecutive passes during a stretch that began late in the third quarter. When Mitchell finally misfired on third-and-8 from the Tennessee 32-yard line, Brown jogged on to the field and stunned the crowd of 107,716 when his kick crawled over the crossbar by a couple of feet.

"Just like hitting a golf shot," Brown said, "when you hit that solid contact you just know it's going through."

At the team hotel earlier Saturday, Spurrier pulled Brown aside and asked the fifth-year senior if he was ready to kick a game-winning field goal. "Yes, I am," Brown said.

So even after Brown missed a 53-yard try in the first half, Spurrier did not hesitate to send him back out with the game in the balance.

"He wanted a shot at it," Spurrier said. "He's usually our short-distance (kicker). But he's hit from 50 in practice."

Mitchell, a redshirt sophomore, came of age in front of a hostile crowd and a national television audience. The right-hander completed 22 of 36 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns - both of which went to Sidney Rice, who broke the school's single-season record for touchdown catches with 11.

As was the case two years ago when the Gamecocks traveled to Knoxville, a Tennessee punter named Colquitt had a huge impact on the game. After Dustin Colquitt kept USC buried in its territory during the Vols' 23-20 overtime win in 2003, Britton Colquitt followed his big brother's formula Saturday.

Colquitt had three punts that were downed inside the Gamecocks' 5-yard line, leading directly to a Tennessee safety and forcing USC to start several drives with their backfield lined up in the Vols' checkerboard end zone.

When Colquitt finally punted into the end zone for a touchback late in the third quarter, USC took advantage of the improved field position and started moving. Mitchell completed six consecutive passes and the Gamecocks drove to the Tennessee 5.

After USC called two timeouts before a third-and-goal play, Rice ran a hitch-and-go route and pulled in Mitchell's pass in the back of the end zone to put the Gamecocks up 13-12 with 11:33 remaining. Mitchell threw an incompletion under a heavy rush on the 2-point try.

It was the Gamecocks' first lead since the first quarter, but it didn't last long.

Continuing the Vols' season-long quarterback shuffle, starting quarterback Rick Clausen returned to the game after being benched for throwing an interception on Tennessee's first possession. Clausen moved his team into scoring position and James Wilhoit's 43-yard field goal put Tennessee back on top 15-13 win 7:39 left.

But Mitchell picked up where he had left off, zipping five more completions to Kenny McKinley and Kris Clark before missing on third down. When Tennessee lined up in a two-deep zone coverage, Mitchell looked to McKinley on short slant routes. When the Vols played man-to-man, Mitchell went downfield.

"He came around tonight. He did not have that nervous look," Spurrier said. "He may have come into his own tonight."

After Brown's boot, the Gamecocks' defense again held. With co-coordinator Tyrone Nix making the defensive calls for the first time, the Gamecocks kept Tennessee out of the end zone nearly 48 minutes after Arian Foster's 1-yard run late in the first quarter.

Tennessee has lost three games in a row for the first time under Fulmer, who succeeded Johnny Majors after the '92 season.

"That's not what we expected as a football team. What you saw out there was unacceptable," Fulmer said. "In my 13 years here, we haven't had a season like this one. It's been tough. We just haven't made any plays."

With USC fans chanting "Gamecocks" in the north corner of the end zone 10 minutes after the final horn, Spurrier talked about the significance of the victory - and looked ahead to others like it.

"We've still never beat Florida," said Spurrier, mindful of USC's winless record against the Gators in SEC play. "So that could be a historic game, too."

Reach Person at (803) 771-8496 or jperson @thestate.com.

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