Vols QB George MacIntyre said out loud what every Tennessee fan knows is true after the Vols’ loss to South Carolina
The Tennessee Volunteers suffered their second loss of the season on Saturday, falling 27-24 to the South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia.
If you took a drink every time Tennessee was called for a penalty on Saturday against South Carolina, then you’re probably going to have a massive headache on Sunday morning.
Tennessee committed 12 penalties for 90 yards — and there were a couple of other offsetting penalties that aren’t counted in that total that wiped away some key plays for the Vols — in a 27-24 loss to South Carolina in Columbia.
The Volunteers had three touchdowns wiped off the board due to penalties, including one that was called back for a ticky-tack holding call on left tackle David Sanders Jr.
Some of the penalties were dumb mistakes by Tennessee, and some were calls that aren’t usually made in SEC games. The officiating crew was very quick to throw the flag on anything they thought was questionable. This was not a “let them play” type of game.
The result is what it is, but there’s no denying that the penalties altered the outcome of the game. Vols fans know it. Deep down, South Carolina fans know it.
And Tennessee quarterback George MacIntyre knows it.
“That’s 21 points off the board,” said MacIntyre. “I think we all know how different this game would have looked if we didn’t have those penalties. And it didn’t feel like we had that many penalties throughout the whole game. They just happened at the worst time possible — coincidentally or not. Just really shooting ourselves in the foot.
“I know every game that every coach and player says it feels like they didn’t stop us, we stopped ourselves. But I felt like that was very true for this game. It was one of the most frustrating games I’ve ever played in just because that was the story of every play they called back. And it’s real drive killers right there.”
Tennessee has to play smarter in certain situations, but they were also the victims of some bad luck on Saturday against South Carolina.
And when you play on the road in the SEC, a little bad luck can turn what should be a win into a loss.
