Tennessee finds a way to upstage Spurrier, 31-24

Tennessee didn’t give Steve Spurrier anything to joke about Saturday night.

Erik Ainge threw two touchdown passes to Bret Smith and the eighth-ranked Volunteers ended a year of ugly memories from last year’s loss to South Carolina with a 31-24 victory in a Southeastern Conference game.

“That was a hard loss,” Tennessee’s Marvin Mitchell said of last year’s game. “They beat us last year, but hey, we got them this year.”

Through the years, Spurrier has largely had his way with Tennessee, which improved to 7-1 overall and 3-1 in the conference. The coach won at Neyland Stadium with Duke in 1988, then took eight of 12 games from the Volunteers as Florida coach from 1990 to 2001. He also led the Gamecocks to their first win at Knoxville last season.

South Carolina (5-3, 3-3) overcame a two-touchdown deficit to lead, 17-14, after three quarters, but Ainge found Smith on a 12-yard touchdown pass to put Tennessee ahead for good.