Coach’s Corner – South Carolina vs. Kentucky – VIDEO
South Carolina’s defense came to life after a shaky start in the first quarter and dominated Kentucky, 35-13, in a key SEC game in front of a sellout crowd at Williams-Brice Stadium.
The Wildcats took the opening kickoff and marched down the field on an eight-play, 65-yard drive with Seth McGowan scoring on a 20-yard touchdown run. With the PAT, Kentucky led 7-0 before the crowd was settled into the seats.
Ironically, after the touchdown, McGowan threw the ball into the stands and it truck the grandfather of Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers in the face. That was the beginning of what turned out to be an often belligerent game.
On the Gamecocks’ first possession, Sellers drove his team 75 yards on 12 plays with Rahsul Fasion tying the score on a 12-yard touchdown run. Kentucky added a field goal to lead 10-7 at the end of the first quarter. The Wildcats had 146 yards of total offense in the opening period.
In the second quarter, Carolina’s defense woke up and held Kentucky to only 86 yards of total offense the rest of the game.
The turning point came in the second when South Carolina defensive end, Dylan Steward, sacked the Cats quarterback, Cutter Boley, and stripped the ball loose. Gamecock defender Jatius Geer scooped up the ball and raced 40 yards for a touchdown to give Carolina a lead that they would never give up.
Two plays and 45 seconds later, the South Carolina defense scored again when defensive back, Gerald Kilgore, intercepted a Boley pass and returned it 45 yards for another Gamecock touchdown. South Carolina scored again on a six-yard run by Faison to lead 28-10 at the half.
The South Carolina defense forced two Wildcat interceptions and a total of four turnovers. The defense also sacked Boley six times for 39 yards in losses.
After the game, South Carolina Coach, Shane Beamer, talked about adjustments made after the first quarter by Coach Mike Shula and Coach Clayton White.
“Yeah, they [Kentucky] did a good job early,” he said. “We did not, I was disappointed. I felt like in the first two drives, we got out-physicalled, to be frank, and that was disappointing. I wouldn’t say it wasn’t big corrections; we just really wanted to be disruptive. I thought Clayton White did a great job
with the calls, as did Mike Shula tonight…. It was good to see our guys step up and finish the second half, especially in the fourth quarter, the right way, offensively and defensively.”
Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops said, “A tough loss. I really appreciate our players and the work that they put in. They did a lot of good things in that game and got off to the start that we wanted, but we just couldn’t sustain. Giving up a punt block, or a punt return, or a defensive score – obviously, that’s a critical momentum shift.”
South Carolina has an open date next week before traveling to LSU in two weeks. Kentucky will travel to Georgia for its next game.