What beating Kentucky would mean to the one Gamecock who’s been around for every loss
Donell Stanley has been with South Carolina football longer than just about anyone currently with the program. But not even he was there the last time USC topped Kentucky on the gridiron.
A sixth-year senior on the offensive line, Stanley arrived on campus in 2014 — that also happened to be the first year of five consecutive defeats Carolina has suffered to UK.
So while most South Carolina players downplayed the significance of that losing streak ahead of Saturday’s game between the programs at Williams-Brice Stadium, Stanley acknowledged that playing the Wildcats carries a little extra weight for him.
“Kentucky, ever since I’ve got here, we’ve got beat by them, so it’s a big game, a game we got to come out and we got to want to win,” Stanley said. “Those guys are good up front; they got some good players.”
The past five games have been a source of angst and embarrassment for USC fans. For Stanley, who has started the last two, they’ve built up into a maddening desire.
“It’s become a big game, especially because we want to beat them so bad,” Stanley said. “They had our number the past years, but moving on, it’s a new year for us and it’s a new year for them.”
Though Stanley has the knowledge and full experience of the losing streak, none of his teammates do, and they said he, nor anyone else, has really brought up “The Streak” in preparation for this Saturday.
“Kentucky’s just like another opponent, another SEC opponent,” senior receiver Bryan Edwards said. “They’re going to be good, they’re going to play physical. We got to go out there and match it. It’s not who we’re playing, how many times we lost, whatever that is. Not trying to make the game too much.”
Far more pressing than the possibility of six consecutive losses to Kentucky is the possibility of falling to 1-4 to start the season. That, according to sophomore linebacker Ernest Jones, is what’s really driving the Gamecocks this week.
“I’m not worried about it, we’re not worried about it. We have to win ourselves, this is a must-win game for us. We’re sitting at 1-3, we’re not where we want to be,” Jones said. “We just got to win this game, that’s all it is. What happened in the previous times doesn’t come to my mind.”
All the same, in a series that has produced more than its fair share of unexpected results and odd games over the past half-decade, there would be some weird feelings that result from a win, Stanley noted. At the same time, not having anyone who remembers beating Kentucky presents a unique challenge.
“We haven’t won, so of course it’s going to be strange for us, trying to figure out how to beat these guys,” Stanley said.
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
