Isn’t UK-S.C. a grind-it-out game? Then why is everyone talking about explosive plays?

South Carolina didn’t exactly ease into the game against Kentucky last season.

The Gamecocks needed just one play — a 68-yard pass from Jake Bentley to Deebo Samuel — to grab the lead over the Cats.

That game may have ended the way UK wanted (in a 23-13 victory over South Carolina) but it definitely wasn’t a start that Mark Stoops wanted on the road.

“They really made some big plays early in that game,” Kentucky’s head coach said as the No. 17 Cats prepared to play South Carolina in front of a sold-out Kroger Field. “They’re tough and they’re explosive as we saw on the opening play of the game.”

Much is made of Southeastern Conference games being won and lost at the line of scrimmage. It certainly was a week ago when UK upset Mississippi State, but Stoops expects a different pressure point on Saturday.

“With the way both teams can run the ball and with numbers the way they are, it’s definitely going to be a lot on the perimeter this week,” Stoops said Thursday night. “Who makes the explosive plays and who defends the explosive plays.”

South Carolina hasn’t been the most explosive team this season behind quarterback Jake Bentley with just eight plays of 20 yards or more, but five of those eight throws were for scores. Seven of the eight drives containing a long pass ended in touchdowns.

The Gamecocks are last in the league in pass plays of 20 yards or more, but they have weapons like Samuel and fellow wide receivers Bryan Edwards and Shi Smith.

Being able to contain those players will be a key to the game, especially against an offense that tries to play fast. UK has had success in pass defense this season, giving up just 173.5 yards per game through the air and holding opposing quarterbacks to 50.7 percent accuracy.

“This is an explosive-play offense with those wide-outs,” defensive coordinator Matt House said of the Gamecocks (2-1, 1-1 SEC).

“They’ve got some explosive playmakers, in particular their offensive skill guys, they can make some plays,” Stoops said. “They’ve got some guys who can get you. You’ve always got to be on point when you’re covering those guys.”

The defenses of both South Carolina and Kentucky are top three in the league at limiting opponents’ big plays, with South Carolina allowing just seven plays longer than 20 yards and only three of 30 or more yards.

The Cats (4-0, 2-0) have allowed only 10 plays of 20-plus yards and five plays of 30 or more yards.

So big throws and catches — like the ones to Dorian Baker and C.J. Conrad in the most recent game against the Bulldogs — could be keys to the game on the other side.

“We missed a couple last week that we had a chance,” offensive coordinator Eddie Gran said. “When we start hitting those, we can be really explosive.”

The goal is to be more vertical starting this week and try to use weapons down the field like Baker, Conrad, Tavin Richardson, Lynn Bowden and others.

Gran added: “We’ve got to continue to do that to win big games when you play in the SEC, and this week we’ve got to do the same thing.”

‘We won’t let that happen’

South Carolina no doubt has plenty of motivation walking into Kroger Field having lost four in a row to Kentucky.

“They’ve got guys who are hungry,” UK tight end C.J. Conrad said. “I’d be hungry if we’d lost four years in a row to us, too.”

But the Gamecocks have been careful not to discuss it — at least not on social media or any other kind of media — this week.

“We don’t do that talking,” defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw said Tuesday. “We just do what we need to do and leave the talking for after the game.”

The junior hit all of the talking points about UK’s Benny Snell, whom he called “a Heisman-caliber back for what he’s been doing.

“He’s definitely a good back, gonna play on Sundays,” Kinlaw said. “But we’re going to try to play our blocks and try to stop him.”

From Will Muschamp down, the Gamecocks say it’s not about the streak, with the head coach saying “it’s 2018 South Carolina versus 2018 Kentucky.”

The question is: Can 2018 Kentucky put aside its streak of four straight wins to open the season and its new No. 17 national ranking, a first for the program in 11 years?

Can 2018 Kentucky refocus after a week of fans and friends telling them how special they are?

Conrad doesn’t seem concerned about this year’s Kentucky team despite the ranking and the accolades and the new Heisman Trophy campaign for its biggest star.

“Been preaching to the guys all week that these guys are going to come in and play hard,” the tight end said of South Carolina. “They’re going to be getting after us. What I’m trying to do as a leader is inspire these guys.

“We can’t have a hangover from Mississippi State. I don’t anticipate that at all. We’ve got guys who are leaders on this team and we won’t let that happen.”

A leader on the other side of the ball, linebacker Josh Allen, didn’t seem worried either.

“It feels great, but we’re not settling just for where we’re at now,” he said of the rankings and the pats on the back. “We want to get better, we want to be the best. To be the best, you’ve got to keep winning.”

One statistic to watch

One of the many games within the game to watch on Saturday will be how well Kentucky performs on third down.

The Gamecocks’ defense is fourth nationally and the league leader on third down, allowing just eight conversions on 33 attempts (24.2 percent) by opponents.

“They’ve been incredible on third down, so you’ve got to win some third down matchups,” Stoops said. “We have to convert some third downs offensively.”

Specifically South Carolina is winning a lot of one-on-one matchups against opponents and forcing teams into long yardage situations in general.

But Kentucky’s offense hasn’t exactly been shabby on third downs, converting 51.1 percent of its tries this season, good enough for No. 14 in the country and third-best in the league.

“They are very efficient because they manage for third down,” Muschamp said of UK, which is averaging 6.5 yards per run on first downs alone, which helps when third down rolls around.

“They make it very difficult for you to get off the field. They don’t give you a lot of negative plays on offense so they are not in a lot of bad down and distance situations.”

So what does South Carolina do so well on third down?

The Gamecocks have big, athletic interior defensive linemen who understand their jobs and do them well, Cats center Drake Jackson said.

“They do a good job of mixing things up,” UK offensive coordinator Eddie Gran said. “They mix things up in coverages. They mix things up in their blitzes.”

Prowess on that down was one of the reasons UK was able to win its fourth in a row over the Gamecocks last season. The Cats connected on nine of 16 tries (56.3 percent) on third down.

This story was originally published September 28, 2018 at 12:27 PM.