Following three home games and a bye week, Kentucky hit the road for the first time in 2025. In addition, for starting quarterback Cutter Boley his first road SEC start couldn’t come at a much tougher place. Playing under the lights in Columbia the Cats were trying to snap a three-game losing streak to South Carolina. UK got off to a good start early. However, it quickly disappeared in an onslaught of turnovers. Let’s break it down as South Carolina cruises past Kentucky 35-13.
Turnovers Doom Cats In Road Opener
A Hot Start
In our game preview, we said that for the Cats to have a chance of winning, they had to run the ball successfully. After all, in the Gamecock loss to Missouri, they gave up 285 yards on the ground. Mark Stoops’ Cats did just that, going 65 yards in eight plays, 54 of them via the run. Seth McGowan took it the last 20 and for the first time in recent memory UK scored on its opening drive, going up 7-0.
South Carolina answered right back on a 12-yard run by Rahsul Faison that evened the game at seven. On their next drive, Boley led the Cats deep into South Carolina territory, aided by a 53-yard strike to Willie Rodriguez. However, that drive stalled, and a 27-yard field goal by Jacob Kauwe put UK up three.
The Wheels Fall Off
Shane Beamer’s clubs always make offense out of defense. For Kentucky, the second quarter couldn’t have gone any worse. Boley was sacked by Dylan Stewart and fumbled. Jatius Geer took it 46 yards, and it was 14-10 USC.
On Kentucky’s next drive, Gerald Kilgore picked off Boley for a pick-six, and just like that, it was 21-10. Another Boley pick, this time by Brandon Cisse, led to another Faison run, putting the Gamecocks up by 18. Kentucky fumbled on the half’s last play, making it four turnovers in the period. They went into the half down even though they out-gained USC 196-136.
Calm After The Storm
After the fireworks of the second stanza, the third quarter was dominated by the defenses. Both teams traded punts, then Kentucky stopped Carolina on a fake punt. Boley was able to lead the Cats to another Kauwe field goal, cutting the margin to 15.
A one-yard run by Matthew Fuller provided the only scoring in the final quarter. As for Kentucky, a promising start on offense quickly fell apart as they really got nothing going after that. A lot of that had to do with the USC defense, as they had six sacks and 10 tackles for a loss. The result is a fourth straight win by the Gamecocks as South Carolina cruises past Kentucky 35-13.
Looking Ahead
With the loss, Kentucky drops to 2-2 on the season and 0-2 in the SEC. As we’ve discussed, it doesn’t get any easier for Stoops’ Troops as they head to Athens next week for a matchup with Georgia. Kirby Smart’s club lost to Alabama at home 24-21. The Cats will try to break a 15-game losing streak to the Bulldogs, with the last win coming way back in 2009.
As for South Carolina, they improve to 3-2 on the year and 1-2 in league play. They have a bye week next Saturday before heading to LSU on October 11th. The Tigers fell at Ole Miss on Saturday.
Final Thoughts
Kentucky got off to a strong start running the ball, just as we said they needed to. However, you can’t help but wonder why they got away from what was working. McGowan finished with 112 yards on the ground. Many of those came early in the game. The Cats had 141 yards of offense on their first two series. They ended up with 224. That’s less than 100 yards in three quarters.
Boley finished 12-19 for 124 yards with two interceptions and a lost fumble in his first SEC road start. Again, playing in Columbia is a tough place, but you have to do better with ball protection.
In addition, the Big Blue Wall, which looked pretty good in the first three games, was whipped badly by the Carolina defense. Much like last year, Stewart was a disrupting force all night.
On the other side of the ball, the Wildcat defense didn’t play that badly. They held the Gamecocks to 341 yards. Most nights that can keep you in the game. Unfortunately, with all the miscues, it didn’t happen.
Put it all together, and it’s another rough night for the Big Blue Nation as South Carolina Cruises Past Kentucky 35-13.
Main Photo: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images
