Kentucky Plays from Behind, Stays Behind in 24-14 Loss to South Carolina

Late catastrophic mistakes cost Kentucky a win at Ole Miss. This week the catastrophe happened on the first play of the game.

Playing without Will Levis, Rich Scangarello got creative on his first play-call with redshirt freshman Kaiya Sheron under center. The Wildcats dialed up a reverse to Barion Brown, but the toss from Chris Rodriguez never reached the freshman phenom. South Carolina forced a fumble and recovered it inside the 2-yard line.

Kentucky immediately dug itself into a 7-0 hole. The Cats never recovered, falling 24-14 to South Carolina. It’s just the Gamecocks’ second win over Kentucky in the last nine years and their first victory in Lexington since 2012.

Big Missed Opportunities for Kentucky

The fumble wasn’t the only early setback. South Carolina, who leads the nation in punt blocks, blocked its fifth punt of the season. The Gamecocks could have put the game away with a score, but the defense stripped Spencer Rattler, injecting life back into the Kroger Field crowd.

The Kentucky offense was able to piece a drive together and get into field goal range. Matt Ruffolo‘s 45-yard attempt doinked off the left upright.

Still, the game was within reach, thanks to Mr. Chris Rodriguez. The Kentucky running back surpassed the 100-yard mark in his second game of the season, helping set up a beautiful 16-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Dingle.

The Wildcats got the ball back with five minutes left in the second quarter and a chance to take the lead. On third down Sheron threw a beautiful pass to Brown. He had nothing but green grass in front of him and the ball skipped right of the wide receiver’s hands.

South Carolina Controls Third Quarter

The Gamecocks got the ball first to start the second half and set the tone. Running behind former five-star recruit MarShawn Lloyd, the ball control offense wore down the UK defense and methodically moved down the field. After only gaining 90 yards in the first half, South Carolina opened the second half with a 75-yard touchdown scoring drive.

The Wildcats got one first down, then quickly punted the ball back. South Carolina held it for 14 plays and more than seven minutes. The Kentucky defense could not get off the field on third down, allowing the Gamecocks to convert on plays of 14, 30 and 22 yards.

South Carolina got a 10-point lead and sat on it, effectively taking Kentucky’s best playmaker (Chris Rodriguez) out of the game.

What a Disaster

A top 25 Kentucky football team just got ran off the field by an average (at best) South Carolina team. One of the most disappointing losses of the Mark Stoops era, big dreams have quickly turned into nightmares.

Kentucky vs. South Carolina Box Score