Blue Preview: Storyline, odds and the players to watch in UK football at South Carolina
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Preview: Kentucky at South Carolina
Click below to read more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s preview coverage ahead of Saturday’s Kentucky-South Carolina football game at Columbia, S.C.
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Kentucky at South Carolina
When: 7:30 p.m. (EST) Saturday.
TV: SEC Network.
Announcers: Play-by-play, Tom Hart; analysis, Jordan Rodgers; sideline, Cole Cubelic
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1.
Satellite radio: XM Channel 382, Internet Channel 972.
Records: Kentucky 6-4, 3-4 SEC; South Carolina 4-6, 2-5 SEC.
Series history: South Carolina leads the all-time series with Kentucky 19-14-1.
Most-recent meeting: Spencer Rattler completed 14 of 19 passes for 177 yards and a TD to lead South Carolina to a 24-14 upset of No. 13 Kentucky on Oct. 8, 2022, at Kroger Field.
Line: Kentucky is favored by 1.5 points.
The storyline
Coming off another blowout loss to a top-10 foe — this time 49-21 to No. 8 Alabama — Kentucky is in the position of needing to record back-to-back road wins at Power Five opponents South Carolina and Louisville to end its season in a manner that would be acceptable to the UK fan base. For motivation this week, Kentucky has the revenge motif after the Gamecocks upset the then-No. 13 Wildcats last season in Lexington; meanwhile South Carolina knows it must win out to achieve bowl eligibility.
The number to watch
Yards passing allowed. After Alabama’s Jalen Milroe threw for 234 yards and three touchdowns on Kentucky on Saturday, the Wildcats sit 91st in the FBS in pass defense, surrendering an average of 241.3 yards a game. South Carolina has been even worse against the pass. Out of 130 FBS teams, the Gamecocks rank No. 121 and are giving up 268.4 yards a contest. The game could come down to which team’s shaky pass defense can make the most plays.
The big threat
Spencer Rattler. In wins over Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt the past two weeks, the South Carolina quarterback has thrown for a combined 750 yards. The Oklahoma transfer needs 134 passing yards Saturday night to go over 3,000 in a season for the third time in his college career. If Rattler can stay upright (see below), he figures to give Kentucky’s struggling secondary all it can handle.
On the spot
The Kentucky pass rushers. The Alabama offensive line came to Lexington tied for 126th in the FBS in sacks allowed, having surrendered a whopping 37. Yet Kentucky did not get a single quarterback sack Saturday. The team Alabama was tied with in sacks allowed was South Carolina. Given another chance against an offensive line that has struggled to pass block, can UK find a way to take advantage?
The mood
Is sour. Kentucky following up this season’s 51-13 loss at Georgia with a 49-21 shellacking from Alabama has left the Big Blue Nation feeling gnarly. Closing out the year with road wins at South Carolina and at No. 9 Louisville would produce an eight-win regular season for UK that would flip the season’s narrative in a positive way. Given how the Wildcats have played for most of this season, it is highly uncertain whether they can pull that off.
This story was originally published November 13, 2023 at 8:48 AM.
