The keys to the South Carolina football team's success vs. Kentucky Wildcats
By Kevin Miller
This is only the second weekend of the South Carolina football season, but week 2's matchup between the Gamecocks and the Kentucky Wildcats is a pivotal one for Shane Beamer's team.
Seemingly destined to be betting underdogs in 8 of their final 11 games, the Gamecocks must take advantage of their best opportunities to stack up some wins as they pursue a return to bowl eligibility during the 2024 campaign. Carolina's path to 6 wins likely would need to include a victory over the Wildcats.
Both South Carolina and Kentucky are 1-0 after knocking off smaller conference opponents last weekend, but the Wildcats' 31-0 win over Southern Miss (one that was shortened due to lightning) was more impressive than the sloppy 23-19 win for the Gamecocks.
Visiting Lexington, Kentucky is not an overwhelmingly intimidating SEC road trip. Even so, Kentucky is a pretty good team, and the environment will be nearly as hostile in Commonwealth Stadium as it can get as the Big Blue fanbase does not like Shane Beamer or the Gamecocks, and the 'Cats need a win almost as badly as Carolina does.
Recent history has seen South Carolina and Kentucky play close games. With the exception of the 2020 loss when the Gamecocks were playing under an interim coach and the 2019 win when the Wildcats didn't really have a quarterback, every game has been played within two scores since 2013. Most of them have been lower-scoring affairs, as well, as the winning team has scored between 16-26 points in 8 of the last 9 meetings.
A close game on the road in the SEC often comes down to just a few key plays or matchups. Here are three major keys that could lead Shane Beamer's South Carolina football team to a victory in the Bluegrass State.