Blue Preview: Your guide to Kentucky’s football game vs. South Carolina

South Carolina at No. 17 Kentucky

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Kroger Field

TV: SEC Network (play-by-play, Tom Hart; analysis, Jordan Rodgers; sideline, Cole Cubelic)

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1, XM Channel 190, Sirius Channel 108

Records: Kentucky (4-0, 2-0 SEC), South Carolina (2-1, 1-1 SEC)

Series: South Carolina leads 17-11-1, but Kentucky has won four in a row

Last meeting: Kentucky defeated South Carolina 23-13 on Sept. 16, 2017, at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia

Favorite: Kentucky is favored by one point

The story line

Kentucky finds itself in the unaccustomed position of trying, not to end a winning streak, but to extend one. The Wildcats have beaten South Carolina four seasons in a row. For Will Muschamp and the Gamecocks, wanting to snap that streak figures to give this game the flavor of a holy war. A ranked team in the major polls for the first time since 2007, Kentucky must match South Carolina’s urgency.

The big threat

Jake Bentley. Completing 68.3 percent of his throws, the South Carolina junior quarterback will be the most proficient passer Kentucky has faced in 2018. This season, the Opelika, Ala., product is averaging 268 passing yards a game but has thrown three interceptions vs. six touchdown passes. Last season, the 6-foot-4, 224-pound QB threw for 304 yards against the Cats, but UK picked him off twice.

On the spot

Terry Wilson. Kentucky is last in the SEC in passing (158.3 yards a game). Wilson, UK’s junior quarterback, is a dual threat, so his passing numbers (463 yards, two TD passes, four interceptions) are not his whole story. Still, opposing defenses are likely to try to do to Kentucky what UK did last week to Mississippi State in the Wildcats’ upset of the No. 14 Bulldogs — force the passing game to beat them. When that time comes, Wilson will have to produce through the air.

The mood

Is euphoric. The play of Coach Mark Stoops’ Wildcats in the upset of Mississippi State was so rugged and fundamentally sound, it left a definite impression that UK is legit. After seeming slow to buy in on the 2018 Wildcats, Cats fans created a raucous atmosphere at Kroger Field last week. The same seems likely for Saturday night for a game that will tell us if Kentucky can handle prosperity.

Mark Story: (859) 231-3230; Twitter: @markcstory

This story was originally published September 25, 2018 at 11:20 AM.