This very strange streak: How things have gone so sideways for Gamecocks vs. Kentucky
At one point, not long ago, South Carolina’s win on the gridiron against Kentucky was a given.
Between 2000 and 2013, the Gamecocks took 13 of 14 games in the series. The only loss was that strange 2010 Alabama hangover game, when USC raced out to a lead and gave it all back.
And then came this streak, the one that stands at five games, one that has changed the course of some things for the program.
The 2014 USC-UK game made clear some of the struggles coming for the Gamecocks, and 2015 did as well. A trip to Lexington in 2016 took the wind out of the short-lived Brandon McIlwain era, and the last two games took the wind out of what felt like good to decent starts.
And what made each one stand out is how deeply strange each was in its own way.
Looking back at how weird they got:
2014, at UK
Final score: UK wins 45-38 (Line: Gamecocks by 4)
South Carolina (3-2) was just off a one-point loss to a good Missouri team with the season-opening Texas A&M blowout clear in the rear-view mirror. The defense had finally staunched the bleeding against the Tigers, and the Wildcats were no great shakes on offense before or really after.
But that night, a shootout erupted. The Wildcats put up 6.8 yards per play, for an offense that only got to 6 yards per play four times and 5 yards per play five times all year.
More importantly, South Carolina let a 14-0 lead vanish and, after going up by two touchdowns with 11:45 left, watched the Wildcats close on a 21-0 run in the last 8:06. The go-ahead score was a tip-ball interception return from a 264-pound lineman.
Outside of a game against a two-win Sun Belt team, Kentucky’s star of the night, Jojo Kemp, never came within 40 yards of his 131-yard total on that evening.
2015, at USC
Final score: UK wins 26-22 (Line: Gamecocks by 7)
At the end of this game, one statistical model said a team with USC’s stats would have won around 77 percent of the time.
South Carolina (1-0) had a run of four red zone trips in five drives that ended with nine total points. The Gamecocks outgained the Wildcats by nearly a yard per play and were even in the turnover battle.
It was the last game for Connor Mitch and the first real action for Perry Orth. The Gamecocks had come off an optimism-building win in the opener against a UNC team that went on to win 11 games. South Carolina got blown out a week later at Georgia and slumped to its worst season since the start of the Lou Holtz era
2016, at UK
Final score: UK wins 17-10 (Line: Wildcats by 2.5)
This was another game where South Carolina (2-1) rode in with optimism. Freshman quarterback Brandon McIlwain had shown some flashes. UK hadn’t done much to inspire, especially on the defensive end.
Early on, McIlwain short-hopped a pass to a nearby receiver, and the defensive grind-fest was on. South Carolina ended with 268 yards, while the Wildcats had 351 with two turnovers. No one had a passer rating higher than 107.1. Kentucky held the edge in yards per carry at 4.3 to 2.6.
And the Gamecocks were still in it all the way, holding a halftime lead and tying the game in the fourth quarter. It only ended when Benny Snell powered his team downfield for the go-ahead score with 10:21 to go and South Carolina couldn’t score on two possessions that ended inside Wildcat territory (the last making inside the UK 30).
2017, at USC
Final score: UK wins 23-13 (Line: Gamecocks by 5.5)
Another optimism game where things just went awry. South Carolina (2-0) was rolling in off good wins against N.C. State and Missouri. The Wildcats had struggled to put away Eastern Kentucky.
And on a night when Williams-Brice was rocking, Deebo Samuel took the first play 68 yards. USC then forced turnovers on consecutive possessions, starting drives at the UK 39 and 38.
But the Gamecocks got no points off that, and no points for nearly the whole game as the offense seemed to evaporate. The Wildcats built a 20-6 lead and, after a long touchdown drive, gave South Carolina a puncher’s chance with 6:26 left. A blown contain led to a 54-yard QB scramble for the game-icing field goal.
South Carolina outgained UK by a yard and a half per play and still managed to never seem to threaten on offense.
This loss started a mini-skid, but the team rallied for nine wins.
2018, at UK
Final score: UK wins 24-10 (Line: Kentucky by 1)
The line bounced all over heading into the game, with both teams being favored by at least 2.5 points at different times. What surprised here was that the Gamecocks offense, which had been very good against non-Georgia teams, simply evaporated.
Jake Bentley had 9 passing yards at halftime and missed a pair of seemingly open deep passes on one series. The defense held early after the offense gave up a bad fumble but then broke with long UK three touchdown drives.
For a moment South Carolina (2-1) got back into it on a long Deebo Samuel touchdown, but then neither offense could do much of anything with the game melting away in a string of dragging, empty possessions.
It represented the Gamecocks’ worst offensive day of the regular season and raised the sense Kentucky was to be feared on that side of the ball. The Wildcats finished 10-3 in one of the program’s best seasons ever.
In summary
An extra win in a few of these seasons would’ve meant a lot (looking at you, 2017 and 2018). But what stands out is the lack of rhyme or reason. Every game had some quirk, some outlier. Offensive problems have been a factor the past four, but even then, those problems take on different appearances.
South Carolina opened this Kentucky week as a favorite. The Gamecocks are struggling, but the Wildcats are as well. A win here isn’t as meaningful as it would’ve been without the Missouri and UNC losses, but at least putting this streak to bed would mean something.
NEXT
Who: Kentucky at South Carolina
When: 7:30 pm Saturday, Sept. 28
Where: Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia
TV: SEC Network
Line: South Carolina by 3