Oct. 8, 2011

Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery

OFFENSE

• Rory Anderson recorded his first career start for South Carolina. He also caught a career-long 46-yard pass from Connor Shaw on the Gamecocks’ opening drive.
• Alshon Jeffery moved into a tie for second place on the Gamecocks’ career receiving touchdowns list, collecting the 18th and 19th of his career this afternoon. He is now tied with Robert Brooks (1988-91), Jermale Kelly (1997-2000) and Kenny McKinley (2005-08). His first of the day came on South Carolina’s opening drive, on a 20-yard pass from Connor Shaw. The second was a 24-yard strike from Shaw.
• The first-quarter touchdown pass to Jeffery marked the first time that South Carolina scored on its opening drive this year.
• Jeffery finished the game as the leading receiver with six catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns. The All-American wide receiver has now moved to fourth on the all-time receptions list with 159 catches in his career, passing Kelly and Brooks in the game. Jeffery is now 64 yards away from the all-time receiving yards record held by McKinley (2,781).
• Justice Cunningham caught the first touchdown pass of his career on an 11-yard pass from Connor Shaw in the second quarter. The junior tight end set a career high for receptions and receiving yards in the game with five and 46, respectively.
• Redshirt freshman Nick Jones snagged his first career touchdown reception on the Gamecocks’ opening drive of the second half. Shaw hit Jones over the middle for the 25-yard connection to put the Gamecocks up 27-3.
• Marcus Lattimore logged the eighth 100-yard rushing game of his career (fourth of the season), finishing with 102 yards on 22 carries, to tie his total from last season. Only six South Carolina running backs in history have ever rushed for 100 yards in a game more than eight times in their careers.
• Wide receiver Bruce Ellington rushed for a 61-yard touchdown out of the wildcat formation. Ellington took the direct snap up the right sideline to score the first touchdown in his Gamecock career.
• Sophomore Andrew Clifford saw his first action this season at quarterback for the Gamecocks in the fourth quarter. He threw his first career touchdown pass for South Carolina with seven minutes to go in the game on a seven-yard connection with D.L. Moore (first of the year).
• Redshirt-freshman Dylan Thompson also saw action at quarterback for South Carolina, scoring his first touchdown on an 8-yard rush in the fourth quarter.
• Connor Shaw threw four touchdowns in the game, becoming the first Gamecock quarterback to do so since Blake Mitchell against Middle Tennessee State on Nov. 18, 2006.
• Shaw set multiple career highs in the game. The following his new career highs set this afternoon: 26 completions, 39 pass attempts, 311 yards passing, four touchdowns, 46 yard long touchdown pass and 15 rushing attempts. Shaw also rushed for 42 yards in the game.
• The South Carolina offense had 639 yards of total offense for the game. The last time that South Carolina had over 600 yards of offense was Oct. 20, 2001 vs. Vanderbilt (656).

DEFENSE

• Sophomore defensive end Chaz Sutton picked up his first career start for the Gamecocks.
• Junior cornerback Stephon Gilmore picked off his second pass of the year and the sixth of his career on an attempted half back pass in the first quarter.
• Victor Hampton snagged the first interception of his Gamecock career late in the first quarter.
• Reginald Bowens recorded his first career forced fumble at the end of the first half. The ball was recovered by Devin Taylor, marking his first recovery of the year and the third of his career.
• The Garnet and Black defense tied its season record, giving up only three points in the first half (Vanderbilt, Nov. 24, 2011). Kentucky scored on its opening drive of the game, kicking a field goal after starting at the SC 26-yard line.
• C.C. Whitlock grabbed his third interception of the year (fifth career) late in the third quarter that set up a Jay Wooten 42-yard field goal to put the Gamecocks up 33-3. Whitlock tipped the ball to himself and grabbed it on the run, returning the ball four yards.
• Junior defensive lineman Byron Jerideau recovered his first fumble as a Gamecock in the fourth quarter that set up a D.L. Moore receiving touchdown.
• The Gamecock defense set a season high with six turnovers on the day. South Carolina logged four interceptions and two fumble recoveries in the game. Their four picks ties a season high for interceptions in a game, set last week vs. Auburn.
• The defense held Kentucky to 96 yards of total offense (79 rushing, 17 passing) in the game. It is the second time this season that the Garnet and Black defense has held an SEC opponent to under 100 yards of offense.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Jay Wooten hit two 40+ yard field goals in the game, one from 48 yards and the other from 42 yards. Wooten is now 4-5 on field goals for the year.

GENERAL

• South Carolina won by a 51-point margin, the largest margin that the Gamecocks posted against an SEC opponent. It was the Gamecocks’ largest margin of victory since defeating Kent State by 63 points on Oct. 7, 1995.
• The captains for today’s game were Terrence Campbell, Reginald Bowens, Joey Scribner-Howard and Marty Markett.
• Today’s official attendance was 75,838.