South Carolina scored nine second-half points and the defense came up with three stops inside the 2-yard line in the final 10 seconds as the Gamecocks held on for a 15-9 win over the Volunteers on Saturday at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.

Tennessee redshirt freshman Jarrett Guarantano, making the first start of his career, drove the Volunteers to the shadow of the goal line and had three chances to punch the ball in, but came up short.

South Carolina kicker Parker White connected on the go-ahead field goal from 21 yards with 5:17 left to give South Carolina a 12-9 lead. It was his second field goal of the game and atoned for a South Carolina's special team gaffe on an extra-point attempt in the third quarter.

White was good from 36 yards out with 1:13 left to force Guarantano to drive the Volunteers 75 yards with no time outs for a touchdown for the win.

Guarantano connected on a pass to Brandon Edward Johnson to put the Volunteers on the Gamecocks' 21 yard line with 41 seconds left.

A nine-yard strike to Marquez Callaway put the ball on the South Carolina 5-yard line with 22 seconds remaining.

Pass interference gave Guarantano three chances from the 2-yard line with nine ticks left on the clock. Three straight incomplete passes later and the Gamecocks walked away a winner.

Tennessee was coming off its worst loss ever at Neyland Stadium after being shutout 41-0 by Georgia two weeks ago.

The game matched two teams heading in different directions with a banged up Gamecocks squad (5-2, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) finally wearing out the Volunteers (3-2, 0-3).

A week after scoring three touchdowns, the Gamecocks' defense came up big again. The difference in the game on Saturday was Tennessee defenders were on the field for a lot longer than their South Carolina counterparts and were gassed at the end of the game.

The Gamecocks ran for more than 150 yards in the second half, while the Volunteers netted minus yards.

Running back A.J. Turner scored the game's only touchdown with a little over a minute left in the third quarter. Turner, who was playing in place of the injured Rico Dowdle, took a sweep pitch right and scampered in from 20 yards out to cap a 12-play, 95-yard drive.

The point-after attempt was fumbled and the score remained tied at 9-9.