The South Carolina football team returns home this weekend for an SEC matchup against the Kentucky Wildcats. The game is set to kick off under the lights of Williams-Brice Stadium and you can bet that a raucous crowd will be on hand as the Gamecocks look to hand the Wildcats their first loss of the year.
Last week didn’t go quite according to plan versus the Georgia Bulldogs. Starting signal caller Zeb Noland was knocked out of the game early, forcing a rusty Luke Doty to take over under center for the first time this season. While Doty showed flashes, it was evident that he’d not taken many competitive snaps after being sidelined with a foot injury the last month.
Doty finished the game with 153 yards, a score, and a pick on 50% passing. Now, he’ll have to follow that performance up with his first start of the season on Saturday. While Doty struggled at times, it’s probably a good thing that he was able to knock off the cobwebs before this week’s matchup with the Wildcats. We’re anticipating a better showing this weekend.
South Carolina is also going to need some help from its rushing attack, which has struggled each of the last two weeks. The Gamecocks were held to 100 yards as a team or less against both East Carolina and Georgia, but that trend will need to change if they want to keep hopes of an upset alive.
Kentucky enters the game sitting at 3-0, already having an SEC win over Missouri. This will, however, be the Wildcats’ first contest away from home and the crowd in Columbia could have an impact.
Let’s look at some bold predictions for the matchup and see what South Carolina needs to do to leave Williams-Brice Stadium with a win.