Kentucky closes regular season with convincing win over South Carolina
READ MORE
Game day: Kentucky 41, South Carolina 18
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday night’s Kentucky-South Carolina football game at Kroger Field in Lexington, Ky.
Expand All
Amid a pandemic and against a Southeastern Conference foe, Kentucky celebrated its seniors in the same manner as the last two years: with a “W.”
Kentucky defeated South Carolina 41-18 to finish 4-6 in a regular season that has been anything but normal. Despite letting its guard down a couple times in the second half, the Wildcats left with their largest win in the series’ history. Kentucky twice previously had defeated South Carolina by 20 points — in 1937 and 1999 — before Saturday’s 23-point decision.
UK improved to 13-18-1 all-time against the Gamecocks, against whom they won for the sixth time in the last seven meetings.
Sophomore Chris Rodriguez, who missed Kentucky’s last two games, led the way with a 139-yard, three-touchdown effort on just 14 carries. Seniors A.J. Rose and Terry Wilson each rushed 14 times, too, and for a touchdown each. Wilson completed 17 of 26 passes for 201 yards.
Jordan Wright recovered two fumbles and Jamin Davis had a game-high 10 tackles for the defense.
How it happened
After traveling downfield with ease, South Carolina got jammed up at Kentucky’s 24-yard line and further backed itself up with a holding penalty. Quarterback Luke Doty lost 2 yards on a third-and-5 rush and the Gamecocks settled for a field goal; Parker White’s 38-yard try was wide right.
A couple of double-digit gains — a 14-yard rush by Wilson and a 26-yard catch off a sweep by Rose — quickly pushed UK to Carolina’s 32-yard line. A blindside block by Allen Dailey Jr. brought it back to the Gamecocks’ 36 for a third-and-14 attempt, on which Keaton Upshaw gained 11 yards from a Wilson reception. UK elected to try on fourth-and-3, and Wilson found Josh Ali for an 18-yard pickup to the Carolina 7.
South Carolina’s next drive was short-lived: Kevin Harris picked up 5 yards before Zaquandre White was stopped short for no gain and had the ball ripped out of his hands by Jordan Wright, who returned it for a 4-yard gain. Rose on UK’s ensuing play rushed for a 26-yard score that was ruled 1-yard short of the goal line following a review; Rodriguez right after the ruling rushed for the touchdown to make it 10-0, Kentucky, with 4:19 left in the opening quarter.
An unsportsmanlike penalty assessed to guard Austin Dotson following UK’s touchdown helped enable a 52-yard kickoff return by South Carolina’s Dakereon Joyner to Kentucky’s 40. The Gamecocks’ drive ended at the Cats’ 30 and with a successful 47-yard field-goal kick by White.
The near loss of a fumble on a kick return by Travis Tisdale set the tone for Kentucky’s first scoreless possession. It picked up a first down but an incomplete pass and a 10-yard penalty set it back and eventually prompted the Cats’ first punt.
Kentucky forced its first three-and-out on South Carolina’s next series, then swiftly marched to its second touchdown. Wilson and Justin Rigg connected for a 36-yard gain before Rose picked up 16 yards across consecutive carries to get to Carolina’s 29. Wilson found Rigg for a 21-yard gain and Rose right after scored on an 8-yard run, putting UK up 17-3 and making himself a top-10 career rusher in school history.
The Gamecocks got to midfield but Yusuf Corker intercepted Doty at the Cats’ 36 to force a second Carolina turnover. Kentucky was unable to make points out of it and had to punt. The Cats forced another three-and-out, though, to recover.
Ali signaled for a fair catch near midfield and reeled it in, but was interfered with after, resulting in a 15-yard penalty to Carolina’s 39. A 17-yard rush by Rodriguez highlighted a seven-play touchdown drive capped by a 2-yard run by Rodriguez off a direct snap.
Doty fumbled on the third play of Carolina’s next drive and it was recovered by Wright. Kentucky took a few shots to the end zone but couldn’t convert; it settled for a 41-yard field goal by Ruffolo to take a 27-3 lead into halftime.
It took a couple plays to get going forward but Kentucky eventually padded its lead with a touchdown drive to open the second half. A 13-play, 75-yard drive ended with a 1-yard run by Wilson to put Kentucky in front 34-3 with 7:28 to play in the third period.
Harris spurted for a 33-yard pickup early in the Gamecocks’ next series, a six-play drive that ended with a 15-yard rush by Harris to bring them within 34-10. Kentucky punted on its next series and Harris showed his speed again, immediately picking up 59 yards on the Gamecocks’ next play from scrimmage to take them to UK’s 27. It proved to be for naught; a personal foul turned a would-be fourth-and-2 try into a field-goal attempt from 51 yards out that fell short.
A 14-yard pass from Wilson to Dailey resulted in an additional 15 yards after a targeting penalty against South Carolina’s Jammie Robinson to open Kentucky’s ensuing drive, but it only picked up 9 yards from there; a fourth-and-1 try at Carolina’s 28 ended in no gain and a turnover on downs. Kentucky forced another three-and-out and started its next drive from its 22; the only notable outcome of that series was Wilson reached 1,000 career rushing yards, becoming the 40th player in school history to do so, before UK punted.
South Carolina converted a fake-punt pass for 22 yards to extend a drive that ended in a 30-yard touchdown pass from Doty to Joyner. Kentucky responded on its next play from scrimmage, a 79-yard touchdown run by Rodriguez to push its lead to 41-18.
This story was originally published December 5, 2020 at 11:12 PM.
.JPG)
