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SEC Kickoff: Everything you need to know about Kentucky vs. South Carolina
By Ethan Levine
Published:
Here’s everything you need to know about Saturday’s SEC East showdown between South Carolina and Kentucky in Lexington.
When: Tonight
Where: Lexington, Kentucky
Game Time: 7:30 PM ET
TV: SEC Network
Current Line: South Carolina (-3.5)
Game Buzz: …
SATURDAY DOWN SOUTH PREVIEWS
- Pre-Game Pulse Kentucky Week 6
- Pre-Game Pulse South Carolina Week 6
- Spoiled with success, Gamecocks re-evaluating this season’s goals
- South Carolina WR Shaq Roland doesn’t make the trip to Lexington
- 5 South Carolina players Kentucky fans should know
- RB Mike Davis unsatisfied with early-season performance
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS
Players to watch:
- QB Dylan Thompson
- RB Mike Davis
- RB Brandon Wilds
- OL A.J. Cann
- WR Damiere Byrd
- WR Pharoh Cooper
- DB T.J. Gurley
- LB Skai Moore
Gamecocks’ glaring weakness to watch: Pass protection. Against Kentucky’s fierce, oft-blitzing front seven, South Carolina’s ability to keep quarterback Dylan Thompson upright is key. The Gamecocks would like to be able to move the football with balance behind Thompson and tailback Mike Davis, but the Wildcats’ plan is to make it a frustrating night in the pocket for the fifth-year senior.
Most interesting part of the game: South Carolina playing its first game as an unranked team. How will Steve Spurrier’s team respond? The Gamecocks have the obvious talent and coaching edge, but that hasn’t show up this season outside of a Week 3 victory over Georgia. Last week’s loss to Mizzou was a wake-up call and we’ll see if South Carolina can counter with a dominant outing.
Team Buzz: Buzz? What buzz? The Gamecocks were the preseason Eastern Division favorites and are now struggling to remain relevant while the other side of the SEC gets all the love. South Carolina’s shot at Atlanta is still very much alive with a win tonight, but a loss in Lexington prematurely ends what could’ve been a special season.
KENTUCKY WILDCATS
Players to watch:
- QB Patrick Towles
- RB Braylon Heard
- RB Jojo Kemp
- WR Ryan Timmons
- WR Javess Blue
- DE Bud Dupree
- DE Za’Darius Smith
- DL Jason Hatcher
- LB Khalid Henderson
- S A.J. Stamps
Keys for Kentucky:
- Pressure South Carolina quarterback Dylan Thompson early and often. Thompson prefers to sit in the pocket to pick apart opposing defenses, and the Cats defense cannot let him have that luxury. If UK can force Thompson out of his comfort zone, it could create some opportunities for big plays on defense. If Kentucky can’t get to the South Carolina signal caller, it’ll have a hard time keeping up with the Gamecocks’ explosive wideouts.
- Establish the rushing attack early to provide balance on offense. South Carolina is among the worst run defenses in the SEC, and Kentucky must take advantage by riding tailbacks Braylon Heard and Jojo Kemp early and often. A good mix of both players will keep the Gamecocks defense guessing, and will keep both Heard and Kemp fresh for the second half of a gritty battle in Lexington. If South Carolina must over-compensate to stop the run, it will make like that much easier for quarterback Patrick Towles in Kentucky’s Air Raid offense.
- Get as many players involved as possible. Kentucky will be without wideout Dorian Baker and tailback Boom Williams for this game as they serve a one-game suspension, and it still lacks one definitive playmaker to force the ball to in hopes of a big play. Instead, the Cats must spread the ball around to as many playmakers as possible, getting guys with different skill sets involved in different ways to keep the South Carolina defense guessing. If the Gamecocks are conflicted on defense, UK won’t need just one top-flight playmaker to carry the offense.
Wildcats’ glaring weakness to watch: Towles has thrown four interceptions in his last two games after not throwing any in his first two starts of the season. The Cats signal caller has struggled to protect the football since entering the SEC portion of UK’s schedule, and he cannot let a mediocre South Carolina defense off the hook with sloppy play at the quarterback position. If Towles can limit the offense to one-or-fewer turnovers, the Wildcats will have a great chance to score points in bunches. However, if he commits two-or-more turnovers for the game, it will be hard to imagine Kentucky coming away victorious.
Most interesting part of the game: The Wildcats have given South Carolina two good tests in the last two meetings between the teams in Lexington, beating a top 10 Gamecocks team in 2010 and leading by 10 at halftime against a top 10 USC squad in 2012. Steve Spurrier’s bunch is much more vulnerable than those teams in 2010 and 2012, and Kentucky is a much better program than it was in those years. Spurrier used to own Kentucky in his years at Florida and early years at South Carolina, but that is no longer the case, which adds a wrinkle of unpredictability to this matchup.
Team Buzz: Kentucky is a confident team having won three games in four tries, including their first SEC win since 2011. The program has taken massive steps forward this year, and Saturday’s game against an unranked South Carolina team appears to be very winnable. It will be a blackout in Lexington, and the atmosphere inside Commonwealth Stadium will be electric. Most UK fans have already turned their attention to basketball season by October, but this year the focus remains on a promising football program trending toward the middle-of-the-pack in the wide open SEC East. Cats fans know what’s at stake in this game, and it should be a fantastic battle between two division rivals.
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
