UK Football Preview: Game 5 – South Carolina Gamecocks
By Staff
WILLIAMS-BRICE STADIUM, SC
12:30 PM – ESPN 360
#25 SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS
4-1 (1-1)
SERIES HISTORY:
SOUTH CAROLINA LEADS 13-6-1
RECENT MEETINGS:
2008: USC 24 UK 17
2007: USC 38 UK 23
2006: USC 24 UK 17
2005: USC 44 UK 16
2004: USC 12 UK 7
Kentucky faces it’s third straight ranked team on Saturday and looks to break a couple of long streaks. South Carolina is gunning for their 10th win over UK in a row and the old ball coach Steve Spurrier is looking for a 17-0 majesty over UK. It’s going to take a big effort to pull off the turnover against the Gamecocks with DB’s Trevard Lindley and Paul Warford out of action for the game. Fortunately, USC’s offense is efficient, but hardly the powerhouse offenses UK has faced versus Florida and Alabama.
The spread for this game has ranged from 10-14 points which is in my mind, way too high. This is not your U of F Steve Spurrier. There is some kind of preconceived notion that South Carolina is automatically leaps and bounds better than UK due to the mere prescence of Spurrier. In his four seasons at South Carolina before this season, Spurrier boasted a record of 28-22 and a 1-2 record in bowls, the one win being a Liberty Bowl win. In that same timespan, Rich Brooks has gone 26-24 and is 3-0 in bowls.
Throw out 2005 and UK’s 3-8 record and UK is 23-16 with a 3-0 bowl record and Spurrier is 21-17 with a 1-1 bowl record. Two of the last three games have been 24-17 affairs so you can see that UK may be on the verge of breaking this streak.
OFFENSE
The Gamecocks are led by QB Stephen Garcia, who has been efficient thus far this season, averaging slightly over 200 yards a game passing with 6 TD’s vs 2 INT’s on the season. In a way, Garcia is similar to UK’s Mike Hartline as he is being asked to manage the game and is not a threat for too many big plays. He is prone to mental meltdowns, but UK fans learned that he can not be taken lightly as Garcia lead the Gamecocks on two late drives last year.
The Gamecocks are a curious team running the ball. Brian Maddox is listed as a starter and has the most carries by far, but only averages 3.1. yards a carry. Jarvis Giles and Kenny Miles are good for 6-8 touches a game each and both average around 6 yards a carry. The Gamecocks have three main receiving threats on the team: WR’s Moe Brown and Tori Gurley both average around 15 yards a catch and TE Weslye Saunders can be counted to get the ball on third down.
It’s easy to be dismissive of this offense as they really don’t have a lot of big play threats, but they were able to pin 37 points on the Georgia defense. That game has been somewhat an anomaly as they have shown a pattern of struggling against bigger conference schools (7 vs NC State, 16 vs Ole Miss) and scoring big on lesser foes (38 vs Florida Atlantic and South Carolina State).
DEFENSE
It will not be an easy day for Mike Hartline and company as South Carolina boasts a nails tough defense. Like the offense, it is an anomaly as they held NC State and Ole Miss to 3 and 10 points but gave up 14 and 16 points to South Carolina State and Florida Atlantic. Kentucky nemesis Eric Norwood, unfortunately is back at LB and already has 6 sacks, 2 INT’s a Forced Fumble and a blocked kick on his resume already this year. Cliff Matthews will be a handful to handle on the defensive line and will give UK’s OL another stern test.
ANALYSIS
OK folks. Not to be dismissive of South Carolina but I think that UK has an legitimate shot at an upset here. Yes, I know, Trevard Lindley is not playing, but South Carolina has an average offense, despite some of their high numbers. I am encouraged by the fact UK put 20 points up against Alabama as well. In a game like this, 20 points may be all you need.
So far, the UK offense has faced defenses ranked #1, #2, #39, and #93. The UK defense has faced offenses ranked #3, #14, #85, and #89. In comparison, South Carolina’s offense has faced defense ranked #42, #50, #59, #86, and an FCS school. The South Carolina defense has faced the #6, #18, #64, #111, and a FCS offense. It’s pretty safe to say that South Carolina would be 0-2 against UF and Alabama as well.
The last two games have been a logistical nightmare for UK. For some reason, I get the feeling UK matches up very well and IF UK can win the turnover war, look for the Cat’s to celebrate a 21-17 win.
*****I will be live blogging starting at NOON on Saturday and will stay as long as there is turnout. Seeing this is the first UK road game, hopefully we can get a better turnout and can get the live blogs off to a decent start on this site*****
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