The keys to the South Carolina football team's success vs. Kentucky Wildcats
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Football vs. Kentucky Keys to Success:
Turnovers and Special Teams
The South Carolina football program under Shane Beamer has been known for forcing turnovers and for making big plays on special teams. However, the Gamecocks also have been susceptible to their own giveaways, and the special teams consistency has been lacking at times since the start of last year.
During USC's two-game win streak over the 'Cats, Carolina leads the turnover battle 5-2, including big-time takeaways that directly took away a Kentucky score or set the Gamecocks up for points. Shane Beamer's team holds a 3-1 advantage in turnovers via fumble recoveries and a 2-0 edge in interceptions. Both wins were by 10 points or less, making the turnover margin extremely impactful.
The USC secondary picked off two passes last week, and EDGE players Dylan Stewart and Kyle Kennard were utterly dominant as they got to the quarterback at will and forced 4 fumbles. If Clayton White's defense can force that type of turnover pressure on Kentucky, the garnet and black faithful who make the road trip will leave the stadium happy on Saturday.
The 2022 win in Lexington also saw the Gamecocks block a punt, and even though it didn't result in points for Carolina on the ensuing drive, the blocked kick kept UK from flipping the field and helped USC prevent Kentucky from scoring on their next drive. The Gamecocks haven't missed a kick in the team's last two meetings, either, and the team's special teams units have been good as a whole.
Alex Herrera had a pretty good debut as the team's placekicker last week, Joe DeCamillis' special teams unit blocked an extra point and tipped another field goal, and coverage units were solid. However, blocking on the punt team was bad as Old Dominion blocked a punt, and return man Juju McDowell made a couple of overly aggressive decisions. USC needs more of the good from last week than the bad.
The spread for this game has shifted from 6.5 to 10.5 and then back down to 8.5 at the time of this writing (in favor of Kentucky). Any game within two scores can be flipped almost instantly by a turnover or by earning an extra possession with special teams.