Short-handed Cats fall 24-14 to South Carolina
South Carolina's David Spaulding broke up a reverse attempt from Kentucky's Chris Rodriguez to Barion Brown on the first play of Saturday's game at Kroger Field. It led to an early Gamecocks touchdonwn that helped pave the way to a 24-14 upset of the No. 13 Wildcats. (Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated)
Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor Edit
@JDrumUK
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- For the last three days, Kentucky fans wondered what the No. 13 Wildcats would look like with star quarterback Will Levis likely sidelined by a foot injury.
It did not take long to find out.
South Carolina forced a Kentucky fumble on the first play from scrimmage Saturday night at Kroger Field, a botched reverse attempt from running back Chris Rodriguez to receiver Barion Brown that was blown up by Gamecocks defensive back David Spaulding.
One play later, the underdog Gamecocks were in the end zone and on their way to a 24-14 upset of the Cats.
It marked only the second South Carolina victory over Kentucky in the last nine meetings between the schools. Both of them came against a backup UK quarterback.
"Not a good effort, top to bottom," UK head coach Mark Stoops said. "Didn't start good. I don't feel like we did a good job of putting a first-time starter in a position to be successful. I don't think our team played with the normal competitive character that we generally play with."
Kentucky (4-2, 1-2 SEC) opened the week as a 10.5-point favorite, but that line shrank to four on game day as it became clear Levis -- who has 1,405 passing yards and 12 touchdowns this season and is touted as a potential first-round NFL Draft pick next year -- would not play.
In his place was redshirt freshman Kaiya Sheron, the former Somerset High School state champion who was making his first significant collegiate appearance. His only other playing time to date was for mop-up duty in the Cats' 31-0 win over Youngstown State in which he did not attempt a pass.
South Carolina (4-2,1-2 SEC) took advantage of that inexperience and a poor showing from the UK offensive line to pressure Sheron all night long while recording six sacks and an interception.
"He did some good things when he had time and we did things to put him in a position to be successful," Stoops said. "But I don't think we played very good around him... I thought we played as poorly as we have all year at certain positions around a first-time starter."
Despite the bad start, Kentucky found itself in a 7-7 tie at the half. But South Carolina scored on its opening drive of the third quarter when Spencer Rattler hit Antwane Wells Jr. on a 42-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-7.
The lead grew to 17-7 late in the third quarter on a 32-yard field goal by Mitch Jeter to cap a time-consuming drive which saw the Gamecocks convert three third-down situations.
South Carolina extended the lead to 24-7 on a 24-yard touchdown run by Jalen Brooks midway through the fourth quarter.
Sheron, who connected with Jordan Dingle on a first-half touchdown pass, found JuTahn McClain on a 10-yard touchdown pass with 2:49 to go, but South Carolina recovered UK's onside kick to effectively end the game.
South Carolina outgained Kentucky 356-299. Both teams' star running back had a good showing as the Gamecocks' MarShawn Lloyd rushed for 110 yards while the Cats' Chris Rodriguez rushed for 126.
In the end, UK could not overcome the six sacks, two turnovers, a missed field goal, and a hanful of untimely penalties, errors that also loomed large last week in a 22-19 loss at Ole Miss.
"I told the team you better buckle up because nobody feels sorry for you," Stoops said. "... We've got another Top 25 team coming in here next week, so we better regroup in a hurry."
*****
In this "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK loss...
KEY MOMENT:
Kentucky appeared to have overcome the early blunder and settled into a grind-it-out type of game at halftime, but the Gamecocks drove 75 yards in six plays to start the third quarter and made the short-handed UK offense play catch-up once again. Much-maligned quarterback transfer Spencer Rattler completed a 14-yard pass to Jaheim Bell on third-and-long to extend the drive before his 42-yard strike to Antwane Wells Jr. After forcing a UK punt, the Gamecocks went on a 7:01 drive in which Rattler converted three more third downs leading to a field goal to make it a two-score game. Kentucky was not equipped to overcome that.
GAME BALL:
MarShawn Lloyd, South Carolina -- The Gamecocks' star running back had 110 yards rushing and one touchdown against one of the nation's top defensive units. He averaged 5.0 yards per carry on the night and also caught two passes for 31 yards.
BY THE NUMBERS:
1st - Player in Kentucky program history to have three 100-yard rushing performances against one opponent, Chris Rodriguez, who had 126 yards on 22 carries Saturday.
3 - Years since South Carolina's last win on the road against a ranked opponent.
6 - Number of sacks for the Gamecocks' defense. They entered the game No. 126 out of 131 FBS teams in sacks with only four in five games. Five different SC defenders recorded at least one sack.
17 - Second-half points allowed by the UK defense. In their previous five games of the season, opponents had scored only 15 total points after halftime.
43% - The Gamecocks' third-down conversion rate, converting six of 14. They entered the game ranked 85th nationally in that stat column at 36%, while the UK defense was ranked No. 22 in allowing only 29% on the season.
QUOTABLE:
"I'm not sure. It's been day-to-day and it's still day-to-day." -- UK head coach Mark Stoops on the status of quarterback Will Levis going into next week's game.
UP NEXT:
Kentucky returns to action next week at Kroger Field in a ranked matchup with Mississippi State. The No. 23 Bulldogs improved to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the SEC on Saturday with a 40-17 win over Arkansas in Starkville.
