Beat South Carolina: Why Kentucky's Week 2 game is so important

South Carolina is coming to town on Saturday, and it’s crucial for Kentucky to defend Kroger Field against the Gamecocks. The early September game will likely significantly impact how both teams view their entire seasons at the end of the year, making it a need-to-win game in Week 2.

Above the game’s impact on the season, it seems the Kentucky-South Carolina rivalry has recently turned up. So, Kentucky fans want to beat South Carolina by a million. Let’s get into other reasons why Saturday’s game is so important.

Annual swing game for both teams

Traditionally, Kentucky vs. South Carolina is a swing game on each team’s schedule. For either side to have a successful season, they must win this game to stay on track. A win in this series comes against a parallel SEC opponent, appeases the fans, and usually keeps the winner above water in the conference.

This year, the swing game falls in Week 2, adding even more pressure to one of the most important games on the schedule. Kentucky already has one of the most demanding schedules in the country, so the Wildcats, a 10-point favorite against the Gamecocks, must take advantage of this opportunity to start SEC competition with a winning record. South Carolina needs any win it can get after barely beating Old Dominion in the home opener last week. Shane Beamer really needs to win it.

The Gamecocks stole a couple of recent wins

From 2014 to 2018, Kentucky won all five meetings with South Carolina, including the Wildcats’ first win in Columbia since 1999, as Mark Stoops took the Kentucky program to new heights. Then, in 2019, South Carolina snapped the five-game streak by beating a Kentucky team that had just lost its starting quarterback, Terry Wilson, a week earlier. Wilson suffered a season-ending knee injury the week before Kentucky’s trip to South Carolina, so the Gamecocks faced backup Sawyer Smith, making his first start in the SEC on the road. Carolina won 24-7, and Lynn Bowden famously took over at quarterback a week later.

Kentucky won the next two to make it seven wins in eight seasons. Then, in 2022, South Carolina took advantage of another Kentucky quarterback injury. Will Levis, who had already beaten South Carolina once, wore a protective boot on the sideline as Kaiya Sharon, making his first career start, struggled to lead the offense. The Gamecocks won the only game Will Levis missed in 2022, 24-14. Last season, Kentucky beat itself at South Carolina, turning it over three times with seven penalties.

It’s time for Kentucky to re-establish its dominance against the Gamecocks.

Sunglassgate between Mark Stoops and Shane Beamer

Mark Stoops and Shane Beamer have their own rivalry going on, even if both sides insist they’ve moved on. It began when Stoops made a comment at SEC Media Days 2022 that indirectly referenced a video of Beamer wearing sunglasses and dancing to Soulja Boy. In Stoops’ defense, the video deserved to be mocked.

Get that mic ready pic.twitter.com/4PtICIuh0Z

— Gamecock Football (@GamecockFB) July 19, 2022

Beamer would have the last laugh in Sunglassgate, though. After beating Stoops and Kentucky in Lexington in 2022, he danced to Soulja Boy in sunglasses in Kroger Field’s visiting locker room.

Climate check 😎 pic.twitter.com/z9yv0lY14e

— Gamecock Football (@GamecockFB) October 9, 2022

Stoops cannot take another L to Beamer, and Beamer cannot dance again. (He really can’t dance at all, but Kentucky can’t give him another opportunity to attempt.)

They sucker-punched Ryan Lemond, those bastards

Another reason to beat South Carolina: KSR’s own Ryan Lemond was assaulted at last year’s Kentucky-South Carolina game. Ryan, who is late 50-something and a saint of a human being, spent the holiday season eating soup for every meal because a cowardly South Carolina fan broke his jaw and gave him a concussion with a single blow. The sucker punch occurred outside Williams-Brice Stadium last November, and the assailant is still at large.

College Gameday is watching

As Adam Luckett noted, College GameDay visiting Kentucky in Week 3 is very possible. However, Lexington’s candidacy to host its first Gameday since 2007 rides on the Wildcats being 2-0 when Georgia comes to town. The opportunity to be the Gameday school is rare. Kentucky needs to defend its home field against South Carolina to have a shot at being in the national conversation in Week 3.

As the old saying goes, Beat the Cocks.