Gamecocks Travel to Kentucky in SEC Opener Saturday

KentuckyGameNotes

Sole possession of first place in the newly-formed 16-team Southeastern Conference is on the line when the South Carolina Gamecocks (1-0, 0-0 SEC) travel to Kroger Field (61,000) in Lexington, Ky. to take on the Kentucky Wildcats (1-0, 0-0 SEC) in the SEC opener for both squads. Game time has been set for 3:30 pm ET.

OVER THE AIRWAVES: The 2024 Southeastern Conference lidlifter will be televised nationally on ABC. Veteran versatile play-by-play voice Sean McDonough will call the action with former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy providing the color commentary. Molly McGrath will patrol the sidelines. The Gamecock Sports Radio Network features a pair of Gamecock Great quarterbacks in play-by-play voice Todd Ellis (33rd season) and analyst Tommy Suggs (52nd season) in the booth. Chet Tucker returns for his second season as the network’s sideline reporter.

TO THE WINNERS GO THE SPOILS: The winner of this week’s South Carolina – Kentucky match will be the answer to a trivia question as the first team to post a conference win in the expanded 16-team Southeastern Conference. The winning team will have bragging rights as it will have sole possession of first place in the league standings after this weekend’s slate of games is complete.

LOOKING FOR A FAST START: The Gamecocks are looking to open the season with consecutive wins for the first time since the 2021 season when they defeated Eastern Illinois at home and went on the road to win at East Carolina. The Gamecocks are also looking to open the SEC slate with a win for the first time since the 2017 season when they won at Missouri. Since then, they have lost their last six SEC openers to Georgia (2018, 2021 and 2023), Alabama (2019), Tennessee (2020) and Arkansas (2022).

TOUGH SLATE: South Carolina has one of the nation’s toughest schedules in 2024, as seven of its 12 regular-season opponents were ranked in the nation’s preseason top-20. The Gamecocks’ 2024 slate includes contests against Alabama (5/5), Ole Miss (6/6), Missouri (11/11), LSU (13/12), Clemson (14/14), Oklahoma (16/16) and Texas A&M (20/20).

A LITTLE HISTORY: 2024 marks year four of the Shane Beamer Era and the 131st season of intercollegiate football at the University of South Carolina, dating back to 1892. It is the 118th-consecutive year in which South Carolina has competed on the gridiron. The University did not field a team in either 1893 or 1906. Carolina owns an all-time record of 635-613-44, a .509 winning percentage. Since the start of the 21st century, the Gamecocks have posted a 169-131 record, a .563 winning clip. In four seasons under Coach Beamer, the Gamecocks are 21-18, a .538 winning percentage.

IT JUST MEANS MORE: The 2024 season marks South Carolina’s 33rd year in the Southeastern Conference. South Carolina and Arkansas joined the SEC prior to the 1992 campaign. The Gamecocks earned the SEC Eastern Division title in the 2010 season. The Gamecocks are 109-148-1 (.424) all-time in SEC regular season play but posted a 42-38 (.525) record in conference action from 2010-19. Under Coach Beamer, the Gamecocks are 10-14 in SEC play, a .417 winning percentage.

CAROLINA VS. KENTUCKY: This is the 36th meeting between the Gamecocks and Wildcats in a series that dates back to 1937. Carolina leads the all-time series 20-14-1, including a 10-6-1 advantage in Columbia and a 10-8 mark in Lexington. The teams played just three times (1937, 1978 and 1981) before Carolina joined the SEC in 1992. Since then, they have met every year. Since joining the SEC, the Gamecocks own a 19-13 record against Kentucky, including wins in 16 of the 24 meetings in this century.

A SERIES OF RUNS: South Carolina won 10-straight games over Kentucky from 2000-2009, and 13-of-14 from 2000-2013. The Wildcats countered with five-straight wins from 2014-2018 and six of seven from 2014-2021, but the Gamecocks have rebounded with wins in each of the last two meetings.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET: Spencer Rattler completed 19-of-27 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns and Xavier Legette caught nine of those passes for 94 yards as South Carolina edged Kentucky, 17-14 in Columbia on Nov. 18, 2023. The Gamecocks took an early 10-0 lead in the first period, but Kentucky rallied for a 14-10 advantage heading into the final stanza. Legette’s second TD reception came midway through the fourth quarter and the Gamecock defense did the rest. South Carolina held the Wildcats to just 293 yards of offense and forced three turnovers in the upset win.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET IN LEXINGTON: South Carolina went into a sold-out Kroger Field in Lexington on Oct. 8, 2022, and handed the 13th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats a 24-14 setback. MarShawn Lloyd rushed for 110 yards on 22 carries and Spencer Rattler completed 14-of-19 passes for 177 yards and a touchdown. The Gamecocks took the lead just 13 seconds into the contest and never trailed. The game was deadlocked at 7 at the intermission, but Carolina scored the next 17 points to earn the upset win. The Gamecock defense held UK to just 299 total yards.

NATIONAL RECOGNITION: Following the upset win at No. 13 Kentucky in 2022, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer was selected as the Dodd Trophy National Coach of the Week. The win marked the first win over a ranked opponent in the Shane Beamer Era at South Carolina.

EARLY DATE: A Sept. 7 meeting between South Carolina and Kentucky is the earliest the two teams have ever met during a season. The previous earliest contest came in 2015 when the teams played on Sept. 12. The early game in 2024 comes on the heels of a four-year stretch in which the two latest games were played between the two teams. The COVID-affected 2020 game was played on Dec. 5, while last year’s contest was played on Nov. 18.

A CASE FOR THE DEFENSE: In the last eight meetings between the two teams, the losing team has not tallied more than 18 points, scoring 10, 13, 10, 7, 18, 10, 14 and 14 points from 2016-2023, respectively.

THE LONE WOLF: Eric Wolford returns to Lexington as the Wildcats O-line coach, a position he held in 2021 before coaching at Alabama for the 2022 and ‘23 seasons. Wolf logged a pair of stints at Carolina, serving on Steve Spurrier’s staff in 2009 and on Will Muschamp’s staff from 2017-2020.