(Bronislaw Grala photo)
|
The Volunteers knocked off a gutsy South Carolina 49-12, while the Tribe topped a game Florida 36-6.
Tennessee raced out to a 24-5 halftime lead and then bettered themselves in the second forty, all the time keeping the Gamecocks at bay by restricting them to a try in each half.
Kevin Hartley and eightman Matt Abernathy paced the Vols with two tries apiece, while Chad Edmons, who stepped in at flyhalf, distributed the ball well to his backline and scored a try.
“They have a very strong pack and I was surprised at how big they were,” Tennessee head coach Butch Robertson told ARN. “We were kind of pleased with it, but again we still have things to fix.”
From USC’s standpoint, they came out of the blocks slowly and gave Tennessee a hefty head start, a gap they weren’t able to close. Their try-scorers were fullback Joe Vellon and prop Aviv Shamah.
“I think we matched it in the forwards, but in the backs we missed a lot of tackles and they got us on the outside,” added South Carolina head coach Geoff Mason.
Meantime, Arkansas State built a solid 24-6 lead over the Gators in Gainesville, FL, and then shut out the home team in the second half to post their fourth straight matrix win. Florida gave the visitors all they could handle, often knocking them backwards in contact.
All-American flanker Roland Evans and outside center Darrin Oliver each scored a pair of tries, while scrumhalf Matt Guest and wing David Caswell added singles. Flyhalf Curtis Huckaby was 3/6 on conversions to round out the scoring.
“I think Florida showed a little bit more physical play than we’ve seen this spring,” said Arkansas State head coach Curt Huckaby. “We’re real pleased, and we’re one game away from the Sweet 16.”
In the other game of the round, North Carolina blanked Georgia 52-0.
"We played fairly well, but I thought we left a lot on the table," said UNC head coach Andy Richards.
Arkansas State’s win saw them improve to 9-0 overall, while Tennessee also improved its overall record to 8-1. The Tribe is due to play North Carolina next week, both are in the running for one of the South's two seeds for the Round of Sixteen.
Tennessee looks to have a stranglehold on one of the seeds. Arkansas State is due to play the Vols the week after in a game that will likely determine the South championship.
