South Carolina at Kentucky

Written by Steve Janus

This Saturday the Kentucky Wildcats are set to host the 10-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks in an SEC East showdown. The Wildcats lost for the third consecutive week, losing to Auburn at home 37-34. The Gamecocks are coming off an impressive win over then No.1 ranked Alabama, as they knocked off the Crimson Tide 35-21 at home. The Wildcats have not had much success against South Carolina, as they have lost 10 straight, including a 28-26 loss at home last season, and are 0-17 all-time against teams coached by Steve Spurrier. The oddsmakers are calling for the Gamecocks to come out on top in this one, as the current college football odds have South Carolina favored by 5-points over Kentucky on the road.

South Carolina (4-1, 2-1 SEC): I was extremely impressed with what the Gamecocks did last week against the Crimson Tide, as I thought Alabama was going to come in and really shutdown the Gamecocks in this one. South Carolina got a great game out of junior quarterback Stephen Garcia, as he threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns on 17 of 20 passing. Wide out Alshon Jeffery continues to be the go to guy for Garcia, as he had seven catches for 127 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 34 receptions for 625 yards and four touchdowns on the season. Freshman running back Marcus Lattimore was also impressive, as he ran all over the Crimson Tide defense for 93 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries, after gaining just 33 yards on 14 carries against Auburn in the previous game.

The main reason the Gamecocks were able to top the best team in the nation was their outstanding run defense, as they held Alabama to just 36 yards on the ground. With so much emotion and effort put on display last week against Alabama, I just wonder how much this team will have left to give this weekend on the road. There are no easy wins in the SEC, and the last thing you want to do after taking down the top team in the country, is lose the following week.

Kentucky (3-3, 0-3): The Wildcats definitely had their chances against Auburn last week, as they were even at 31-31 at the end of the third quarter, and were tied at 34-34 with just over seven minutes to play in the fourth. Kentucky was unable to put any more points on the board, which allowed Auburn to kick the game winning field goal as time expired. Even though the Wildcats have dropped their first three conference games, this is a team that is definitely capable of knocking of South Carolina this week.

Wide out Randall Cobb continues to do it all offensively, as he scored two rushing touchdowns, had one receiving, and even threw a touchdown pass in the loss. This is a guy that gives you that chance to beat a highly ranked team, as he is just so hard to defend. With the way that South Carolina is playing against the run, quarterback Mike Hartline needs to have a good day throwing the football, and can not afford to make mistakes and give the ball away with an interception or fumble. Hartline completed 23 of 28 passes for 220 yards and a score last week against the Tigers.

Defensively the Wildcats are going to have to do a much better job stopping the run, as they allowed Auburn to rush for 311 yards, and still had a chance to win the game. On the season Kentucky is giving up on average 190 yards a game on the ground.

Looking at the Odds: While I still think the Gamecocks have a great shot at pulling out the win this Saturday, I don’t think it will be by more than five points if they do. I believe you have to have your money on Kentucky in this game, as that home crowd is going to be rocking this weekend, and it is going to be hard for South Carolina to bring that same kind of intensity they had last week against Alabama on the road. My final score prediction is South Carolina 34, Kentucky 33.

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