The Modern History of Kentucky vs. South Carolina
Before Kentucky reopens Kroger Field to host South Carolina this Saturday, it’s a great time to revisit the modern history of Kentucky-vs-South Carolina with a brief breakdown of each game in the SEC East rivalry. Eight years sound about right for modern history? Let’s call it 2014. So, here’s a recap of the last eight years in the head-to-head series, coincidentally, a stretch of seven wins and only one loss for the Wildcats. Anything before that doesn’t matter because South Carolina was winning a bunch (except in 2010 when the Gamecocks left Randall Cobb wide open for the game-winning touchdown on 4th-and-7 with a minute and change to go).
A look back:
2014: Kentucky 45, South Carolina 38 | Lexington, KY
The one that launched it all, Kentucky upset Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina in 2014 to give Mark Stoops his first signature win in Lexington. For Kentucky, it was only the second win over Carolina in 15 years and the second in 22 tries against Spurrier.
To get there, Kentucky fought off a 14-point, fourth-quarter deficit with help from the legs (and the heart) of former tailback JoJo Kemp. Exhausted, Kemp rushed for 131 yards and three touchdowns, mostly from the Wildcat formation, and his five-yard third TD tied the game with under four minutes remaining.
Then two plays into South Carolina’s next drive, Mike Douglass batted a pass into the arms of All-SEC defensive end Bud Dupree who strolled into the end zone for the game-winner.
Not only a game of heroics, but the 2014 win against South Carolina also included the moment “Grove St. Party” became Kentucky Football’s anthem.
After the game, Mark Stoops declared, “We’re just getting started, bro.”
2015: Kentucky 26, South Carolina 22 | Columbia, SC
In the year that made Spurrier retire, Kentucky went down to Columbia and got a follow-up win in the rivalry while snapping the school’s 22-game losing streak on the road.
It looked bad early when South Carolina scored first after Patrick Towles threw an interception on his second throw of the game, but Kentucky scored 24 unanswered points before halftime to build a big enough cushion to withstand a scoreless second half.
Late in the game, South Carolina had a chance to tie the score with a two-point conversion, only for Kentucky’s Denzil Ware to recover a fumble and score two going the other way.
True freshman Chris Westry ended Carolina’s final comeback attempt with his first career interception.
2016: Kentucky 17, South Carolina 10 | Lexington, KY
With all the momentum in 2016, Kentucky unleashed the rushing attack of veteran Boom Williams (15 carries, 123 yards, 1 TD) and Benny Snell, then a true freshman playing in only his second career game (16 carries, 73 yards, 1 TD). Together, the new Boom and Benny Show’s combined 196 rush yards and two touchdowns were enough to outscore South Carolina’s 10-point effort on only 268 total yards gained.
2017: Kentucky 23, South Carolina 13 | Columbia, SC
In 2017, Stephen Johnson‘s 54-yard run in Columbia gave us an iconic image from the Mark Stoops era.
When Johnson wasn’t running the ball (7 carries, 74 yards), Benny Snell had it for 102 yards on 32 carries leading to two Kentucky touchdowns. And like the year before in Lexington, two rushing scores were all Kentucky needed to outscore South Carolina as the Cats’ defense held the Gamecocks to 54 rushing yards and only 3-of-12 success on third down, thus a fourth straight UK celebration.
2018: Kentucky 24, South Carolina 10 | Lexington, KY
2018 was an unforgettable season for Kentucky Football because the Wildcats did a lot of special things on their way to the first 10-win season since 1977 and a Citrus Bowl victory over Penn State.
Top 10
- 1Live
OSU vs. PSU
Live updates: Ohio State at Penn State
- 2
Frustrated Franklin
Penn State HC not happy with officiating
- 3Hot
Herman confronts Golesh
Tom Herman, Alex Golesh heated postgame
- 4
Pat McAfee
McAfee fires shot at FOX Big Noon Kickoff
- 5
Bryson Daily
Army QB ruled out vs. Air Force
Against South Carolina in Week 5, 17th-ranked Kentucky rushed for three touchdowns in the second quarter (runs by Terry Wilson, AJ Rose, and Benny Snell) and let one of the program’s best defenses of all time do the rest of the work, allowing only one South Carolina touchdown (by Deebo Samuel). Adding to the fun, Derrick Baity, Darius West, and Mike Edwards each picked off a Jake Bentley pass as Kentucky moved to 3-0 in the SEC for the first time since 1950.
2019: South Carolina 24, Kentucky 7 | Columbia, SC
South Carolina’s only win in modern history came in 2019 when Kentucky had two injured quarterbacks by the third week of the season. Returning starter Terry Wilson went down for the year in the second game, followed by wrist and shoulder injuries to backup Sawyer Smith, although Smith continued to play until it finally became too much against South Carolina.
On Kentucky’s final drive against the Gamecocks, the coaching staff handed the ball over to Lynn Bowden, a wide receiver, and his offense went 84 yards in five plays for Kentucky’s only score in the entire game.
A week later, Kentucky won at Arkansas with Bowden at quarterback, and Bowden’s improbable season began. South Carolina was lucky to “see about it” for only one possession.
2020: Kentucky 41, South Carolina 18 | Lexington, KY
Kentucky and South Carolina didn’t play until December 5th in the final game of the regular season in the shortened COVID year of 2020. When they did, Chris Rodriguez bullied his way to 138 rushing yards and three touchdowns, the last one a 79-yarder to pump those numbers up.
Not too far behind Rodriguez was AJ Rose with 101 yards and his own touchdown, then Terry Wilson’s 46 yards and his own touchdown, giving Kentucky 291 rushing yards as a team. However, Kentucky still couldn’t match the 297 it gave up to South Carolina on the ground, led by Kevin Harris with 210 on 21 carries.
With similar rushing stats, the big difference-maker came in the turnover column where Kentucky held on to the ball to finish drives while the Gamecocks lost three fumbles and threw an INT.
The Senior Night win sent Kentucky to the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.
2021: Kentucky 16, South Carolina 10 | Columbia, SC
Last year, Kentucky returned the favor from 2020 by fumbling four times at South Carolina, although only two were recovered by the wrong team. A Will Levis interception made it three giveaways in total, yet the Wildcats still found a way to win a close one on the road in a game Kentucky never trailed.
Matt Ruffolo went 3-for-3.
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