In the football team’s SEC opener, the South Carolina Gamecocks crushed the Kentucky Wildcats, 31-6. This was the Gamecocks’ largest road win under head coach Shane Beamer.
An uneventful first half
South Carolina opened the game with a four-play, 61-yard touchdown drive. The drive was capped off by quarterback LaNorris Sellers finding a wide-open Mazeo Bennett Jr in the end zone. The play was both Bennett’s first receiving touchdown and Sellers’ first passing touchdown of their collegiate careers.
South Carolina gets the scoring started in Lexington‼️ pic.twitter.com/WBbGNM6UVl
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) September 7, 2024
Scoring for the rest of the half was limited to field goals. Kentucky converted two, while South Carolina made one themselves. The score would be 10-6 as the two teams went into halftime.
Apart from the team’s first touchdown drive, the Gamecocks’ offense looked weak. This may be because Sellers missed half of the second quarter due to a minor injury.
On the other hand, the defense was outstanding.
Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff and his offense struggled to move the ball. The South Carolina defense applied consistent pressure on Vandagriff, which caused Kentucky to struggle offensively.
The second half rout
To begin the second half, Sellers found tight end Joshua Simon from 16 yards out for a score. After that, there was no turning back for South Carolina.
Found the open man 🤙 pic.twitter.com/bVvk0xr21q
— Gamecock Football (@GamecockFB) September 7, 2024
The Gamecocks followed that touchdown drive with an incredible defensive series. South Carolina forced two offensive holding penalties, a negative run play, and two incomplete passes. That forced the Wildcats to punt from the back of their end zone, giving South Carolina great starting field position.
The Gamecocks capitalized on the short field with a drive that culminated in a Rocket Sanders rushing touchdown to make the score 24-6.
https://t.co/Bft65qUthK pic.twitter.com/v2RJkoyP8h
— Gamecock Football (@GamecockFB) September 7, 2024
Just two plays later, safety Nick Emmanwori would undercut a Vandagriff pass and take it to the house for a pick-six!
That's six 😤🤙 pic.twitter.com/U47MJ2gXqO
— Gamecock Football (@GamecockFB) September 7, 2024
Also, for the second consecutive week, defensive back Jalon Kilgore recorded a fourth-quarter interception. Last week, it clinched a close game. This week, it put an exclamation mark on South Carolina’s third consecutive win over the Wildcats.
Takeaways from the game
Defensive Masterclass
Perhaps the best word to describe this football game is domination, especially for the South Carolina defense.
The front four for South Carolina could not be stopped, recording 11 tackles for loss and five sacks. Vandagriff was under constant pressure all game, and it led to him going 3 for 10 with 30 yards. In fact, he did not complete a pass in the second or third quarters.
Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops benched Vandgriff in the fourth quarter, although the offensive line deserves much of the blame for the lack of production. In total, Kentucky only completed six of 17 passes for 44 yards (2.6 yards per pass), as well as going three of 14 on third downs and 0-2 on fourth downs.
By the second quarter, the Wildcats appeared to realize that their only chance was in the run game, but they didn’t do much better there. They only rushed for three yards per carry, and finished the day with 183 yards of total offense.
Going into a hostile road environment, the South Carolina defense did everything it needed to, and a lot more. With No. 16 LSU coming to Columbia next week, a replica of this football game on the defensive end of the ball is necessary for a chance for South Carolina to pull off the upset.
Offense’s Significant Stride
This looked like a whole new offensive unit compared to last week.
Sellers went a respectable 11 of 15 for 159 yards and two touchdowns. He only made one costly mistake on the day, an overthrown ball that he forced into coverage for an interception. Other than that, Gamecocks fans had to like what they saw. Sellers’ ability to go through his progressions, make the right reads, and find the open man were on display.
In the receiving department, Jared Brown led the team in receptions with four for 50 yards. Meanwhile, Bennett Jr. led the team in receiving yards with 63 off 3 catches.
In the running game, Raheim Sanders led the way with 13 carries for 54 yards and a touchdown. As a team, the Gamecocks ran the ball 34 times for 86 yards, for a lackluster 2.5 yards per carry.
The offensive line was a lot better compared to Week 1 against Old Dominion, especially against a much stronger Kentucky front. They were able to make Kentucky’s star DT Deone Walker a non-factor, recording just one solo tackle.
However, there is still a lot more work to be done if the Gamecocks want to compete with the SEC heavyweights coming up on their schedule.
The running game needs to improve, Sellers must continue to make strides in the passing game, and the offensive line must hold its ground. Facing LSU next week will provide the answer of just how well the offense can perform against a strong defense.
