Garnet and Cocky
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South Carolina Gamecocks Comeback Comes Up Short

By Sanders Early

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The Kentucky Wildcats were able to hold off a furious comeback attempt by the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday night. The plot for revenge against Kentucky was spoiled after a terrible first half by the Gamecock defense and a controversial ruling on a fumble during a Gamecock turnover in the final minutes of the game.

Early in the first quarter, Skai Moore picked off his 3rd pass of the season and was brought down at the Kentucky 1 yard line. Mitch would run it in on the very next play.

The Wildcats would go on from that point to score 24 unanswered points and exploit the Gamecock defense. The Wildcats would lead 24-7 at the half thanks to a missed field goal by Elliott Fry in the second quarter.

The defense righted the ship in the second half, however. They forced Kentucky to four straight 3 and outs and held them to just 9 yards during that time. The Gamecocks were led by Perry Orth in the second half after Connor Mitch exited the game with an apparent shoulder injury. Orth was up to the task leading the Gamecocks to scoring drives on four straight drives. Unfortunately, three of those drives ended in the redzone with field goals.

The last drive ended in a touchdown bringing the Gamecocks to within 2 of tying Kentucky. They went for the tie and fumbled the ball which was returned by Kentucky for 2 points making the score 26-22. The Gamecocks defense held again, but Orth threw a ball that was intercepted which sealed the fate of the Gamecocks.

Orth was 13-20 for 179 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception on the night. Lorenzo Nunez saw his first action of the season also rushing twice for 40 yards. Brandon Wilds had his first 100+ yard game of the season rushing 16 times for 106 yards. Pharoh Cooper also had 9 catches for 100 yards, but fumbled the ball during the two point conversion which led to the 2 points for Kentucky.

Next: George Rogers Statue Unveiled But SC Should Not Stop There

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