A familiar feeling swept over Big Blue Nation. Kentucky had South Carolina backed into a corner in a tightly-contested game. Two mistakes later, the shoe was on the other foot and the Gamecocks were running away from the Wildcats.
South Carolina defeated Kentucky 35-13 on Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Gamecocks have now won four straight in the series. Mark Stoops‘ last SEC win was 364 days ago. Kentucky has lost eight straight games to Power Conference foes, with a 1-11 record in their last dozen games.
The Cats appeared to have the right gameplan to leave with a win. After about 20 minutes of football, catastrophic mistakes by the offense sunk their chances to escape Columbia with a victory.
Kentucky Starts Hot Behind McGowan
Even though Kentucky continues to lose SEC contests, the Wildcats are playing from ahead. Kentucky won the toss and elected to receive. They were ready to Run the Damn Ball.
The Wildcats went 65 yards in 8 plays, and aside from a pitch pass to Kendrick Law, all of those yards were on the ground. Seth McGowan created a couple of explosives, capped off by a 20-yard touchdown run.
McGowan was one of Kentucky’s top performers, finishing the day with 112 yards and a touchdown. South Carolina drove down the field and scored on the ensuing possession, but the Wildcats responded with another score. A 53-yard gain by Willie Rodriguez set up a Jacob Kauwe field goal to make it 10-7.
Back-to-Back South Carolina Defensive Touchdowns
You could feel the magnitude of the third down. If Kentucky was able to move the chains, the Wildcats were back in scoring range. A South Carolina stop on third and seven could give the Gamecocks all of the momentum. It was much worse than a stop.
South Carolina ran a stunt in the obvious passing situation. Future NFL Draft pick Dylan Stewart was untouched. He brought the boom to Cutter Boley, who lost the ball on the sack. Shiyazh Pete was there to recover the fumble, but couldn’t hold onto the ball. South Carolina picked it up and ran 41 yards for a touchdown.
But wait — THERE’S MORE!
Two plays later, Boley dropped back to pass. The slant hit Law in the fingertips and the ball bounced right to South Carolina. Pick Six.
In the blink of an eye, a 10-7 Kentucky lead turned into a 21-10 deficit. That was the ballgame.
It Got Worse
The redshirt freshman making his first SEC start on the road looked like a redshirt freshman making his first SEC start on the road. A shanked punt gave Kentucky a chance to quickly cut into that deficit. Boley lost the football on his third-down pass attempt, then his fourth-down throw was caught out of bounds.
Following the four-and-out, the pressure got to Boley again. He was hit as he threw a pass on third down. It sailed high into the air and was picked off. Six plays later, South Carolina scored to make it a 28-10 game.
Kentucky had four turnovers in the second quarter. Over a span of ten quarters against Power Conference opponents, Kentucky turned it over nine times.
Another Kentucky Loss After a Bye
Kentucky largely played the rest of the game to a stalemate. The Cats kicked a field goal and South Carolina scored a touchdown, but nobody reading this really cares.
Kentucky suffered another embarrassing loss in familiar fashion. This was a game Kentucky needed to win and they had two weeks to prepare. As is the case after most bye weeks, the Cats got shell-shocked. Mark Stoops is now 6-11 after a bye and 5-10 against SEC opponents, with an ATS record of 2-13.
It’s not getting any easier. Next week, Kentucky travels to Georgia. They’ll get another bye week, then host Texas and Tennessee. There’s no end in sight to this losing streak to Power Conference foes.
Kentucky has descended into the cellar of the SEC, and things are going to get uglier. Buckle up.
Kentucky vs. South Carolina Box Score
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