The Tennessee Vols are looking for revenge on Saturday night against the South Carolina Gamecocks. 

South Carolina put a damper on Tennessee's otherwise impressive 2022 season last fall via a blowout win in Columbia (in a game where starting quarterback Hendon Hooker also tore his ACL on a non-contact injury). That loss kept the Vols out of the College Football Playoff. 

The Gamecocks' offense has looked impressive at times this season. Quarterback Spencer Rattler is playing at a high level. And Tennessee's defense will certainly have its hands full with him. 

For the Vols to win this game, they'll likely need to win a shootout. As Vols head coach Josh Heupel said on Monday, the Gamecocks are inevitably going to make some plays on Saturday night. 

"They have good players, they have good coaches," explained Heupel on Monday while speaking with reporters. "They'll make plays at some point during the course of the ballgame. You have to continue to refocus and go play the next one." 

While South Carolina's offense could be tough for Tennessee to stop, the same goes for the Gamecocks when it comes to the Vols' offense. 

South Carolina could be particularly susceptible to Tennessee's tempo this season due to their lack of depth along their defensive line — which is something that Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer pointed out on Sunday during a teleconference with reporters.

"We know we're thin back there (along the defensive line)," said Beamer. "We don't have a ton of depth. The same five guys are basically playing every play throughout the night….it's primarily the same five." 

This is where Tennessee can win the game, but only if they can get into a rhythm with their tempo. 

Since this is a home game, that shouldn't be an issue for UT like it was in Gainesville against the Florida Gators earlier this month. 

If the Vols can get into a rhythm offensively, then it seems very unlikely that South Carolina's defensive line will be able to keep up for four quarters. The pace of Tennessee's offense practically demands that opponents have great defensive line depth (again, as long as UT can get their tempo going). 

Tennessee's offensive scheme might be unique, but the game will still be won in the trenches. The Vols' offensive line has struggled at times this season, but with center Cooper Mays returning this week (he'll likely split reps with Ollie Lane if he returns), this week could be the offensive line's best showing of the season (it has to be if the Vols are going to win the game). 

South Carolina's defense, in general, hasn't been very good this season. Which makes it imperative that Tennessee doesn't have a bunch of self-inflicted mistakes. The Vols can't give the Gamecocks' beleaguered defense any help. 

South Carolina's defense in Year 3 under Clayton White

Total defense, 432 YPG (14th in SEC)
Yards per play, 6.02 (14th)
Pass defense, 317 (14th)
TFLs, 19 (t-14th)
Opponent first downs, 21.5 (14th)

— Brad Crawford (@BCrawford247) September 25, 2023

This game has the potential to be a shootout. Which means the winner might be whichever defense gets a stop in the game's final moments (similar to Tennessee's win against Kentucky in 2021 and the win against Alabama last season). In that case, Tennessee's defensive line depth, plus the return of Mays, could be enough to give the Vols the edge in this matchup. 

The reality of this game, though, is that it's truly a toss up game that both teams badly need to win. If the Vols can't get a win, they'll almost certainly be out of the SEC East race before the calendar flips to October. The same goes for South Carolina after their early season loss to Georgia. 

It should be a wild environment inside of Neyland stadium on Saturday night for one of the most anticipated games of the 2023 season. 

Featured image via Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports