LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky did not post a winning season in the Southeastern Conference last season. Feel free to blame South Carolina.
The Wildcats lost SEC games to Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee and Alabama. No shame in any of that
But the Wildcats' 17-14 loss to the Gamecocks was not what Mark Stoops expected, leaving his team with a 3-5 SEC record.
To get to where the Wildcats want to go in SEC play, they need to beat South Carolina, starting this season.
The Time: Saturday, 3:30 p.m., Kroger Field, Lexington, Kentucky.
How to Watch/Listen: TV — ABC, WHAS 11 (Sean McDonough, play by play; Greg McElroy, analyst; Molly McGrath, sidelines). RADIO — UK Sports Network, WHAS 840 AM (Tom Leach, play by play; Jeff Piecoro, analyst; Dick Gabriel, sidelines).
The Line: Point spread — Kentucky favored by 10 points; Over/under total points scored — 42.5 points.
The Last Time: The Gamecocks extended their winning streak over the Wildcats to two by winning, 17-14, in Columbia.
The Series: South Carolina leads 20-14 but the Wildcats have won 7 of the last 10.
The Records: Both teams are 1-0. South Carolina scrambled to a 23-19 victory over Old Dominion while Kentucky punished Southern Miss, 31-0, in a game that was stopped by weather in the third quarter.
Player to Watch for South Carolina: Quarterback LaNorris Sellers was awful in the Gamecocks' opener, completing only 10 of 23 passes (43.5%) for 114 yards. He did not have a touchdown pass but did not throw an interception. Sellers did run for 68 yards on 22 carries with a touchdown.
Player to Watch for Kentucky: Quarterback Brock Vandagriff looked the part of an SEC starter agains Southern Miss. He completed 12 of 18 throws for 169 yards and three scores, with an interception. If there was any criticism of Vandagriff it's that his average yards per attempt was only 9.4, which ranks eighth in the SEC.
Sideline Storylines:
- This will be the first conference game in the expanded 16-team league. No league games were played last weekend and the 14 other SEC teams play non-conference opponents this weekend.
- South Carolina has not won its SEC opener since 2017.
- The Gamecocks start a pair of true freshmen on their offensive line: left tackle Josiah Thompson and tight end Michael Smith.
- Spencer Rattler was the Gamecocks' quarterback in their last two victories over UK. Rattler is with the New Orleans Saints this season.
- Kentucky has won its last five SEC games in the month of September, defeating Vanderbilt and Florida last season; Florida in 2022; and Missouri and South Carolina in 2021.
- The Wildcats have three players with at least 50 games of college experience: defensive back Zion Childress, offensive lineman Marques Cox and kicker Alex Raynor.
- The Wildcats have limited nine of their last 15 opponents to 100 yards rushing or less. Southern Miss ran for five yards in the weather-abbreviated game the teams played last Saturday night in Lexington.
The Quote: South Carolina coach Shane Beamer was extensive in his praise of Kentucky's defense:
"Defensively, veteran defense. 10 returning starters. I think 10 of the returning starters are either juniors or seniors. It's guys that we have been playing against for a while that have a lot of experience in them. It is essentially the same defense as last year.
"They have just traded out a linebacker that is with the Panthers now and brought in a linebacker that happened to start at Georgia last season, as well. They are really, really good on defense and led by arguably the best defensive tackle in the entire conference in (Deone) Walker, number 0. Really talented defense."
The Pick: UK 24, South Carolina 16.
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