It wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done.

No. 17 South Carolina overcame mistakes and blown defensive coverages to outlast a gritty Tennessee effort Saturday, defeating the Vols 34-28.

“We didn’t play extremely well. We had some ridiculous, dumb plays today,” coach Steve Spurrier said. “We were fortunate to get the win. We’ll try to learn from it and get ready for Arkansas next week.”

Alshon Jeffery’s 70-yard touchdown catch with 12:17 left in the game was the difference.

“What a play,” Spurrier said. “He doesn’t look like he’s fast, but no one seems to catch him from behind.”

USC tacked on an insurance score when Stephen Garcia took it in from one yard out with 4:32 left in the game.

Carolina put up two quick touchdowns off of takeaways to open the second half, including a 24-yard interception return for a touchdown by Devin Taylor, and led 24-10 with 11:40 left in the third quarter.

But, the Vols showed resilience they have lacked this year in the second half, rallying to tie the game at 24 on Tyler Bray’s 12-yard scoring pass to Gerald Jones with 13:17 left in the game.

After an early Volunteer field goal, the Gamecocks jumped out to a 10-3 lead via a 40-yard field goal from Spencer Lanning and Marcus Lattimore’s 1-yard touchdown run, but the Vols knotted the game at 10 with 3:17 remaining before halftime when Matt Simms hit tight end Luke Stocker for a 12-yard touchdown pass.