South Carolina Football: Best Defenses on the Gamecocks’ 2020 Schedule
By Jacob Elsey
#25. Kentucky
Kentucky returns eight starters to a defense that ranked 21st in yards allowed and 14th in scoring last year. The Wildcats return seven of their top nine tacklers from a season ago.
Their strength was in defending that pass, as Mark Stoops’ bunch finished second in the nation in pass defense, leading the Southeastern Conference. They also had a knack for getting into opponents’ backfields, ending the year with 33 sacks.
The ‘Cats do lose linebacker Kash Daniel and edge rusher Calvin Taylor, Jr. (8.5 sacks), but the majority of production is back. Last season, the Gamecocks managed to put up 24 points on the Kentucky defense, the most the team’s scored on the Wildcats since 2014. Expect another low-scoring affair in ’20.