Kentucky Wildcat Football – Know Your Enemy: South Carolina Gamecocks
By Jason Marcum
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GAME 6
10/8/2011, 12:21 PM
#18 SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS (4-1)
WILLIAMS-BRICE STDIUM – COLUMBIA, SC
TV – SEC NETWORK
SOUTH CAROLINA LEADS SERIES 14-7-1
RECENT MEETINGS
10/16/2010: KENTUCKY 31 South Carolina 28
10/10/2009: South Carolina 28 KENTUCKY 26
10/11/2008: South Carolina 24 KENTUCKY 17
10/4/2007: South Carolina 38 KENTUCKY 23
10/7/2006: South Carolina 24 KENTUCKY 17
UK will look to end a three-game losing streak Saturday when they take on the South Carolina Gamecocks. The Cats have also dropped 18 straight road games against Top 25 opponents by an average of 20.9 points. SC is coming off a loss to Auburn and head coach Steve Spurrier is looking to spark the offense by benching senior QB Stephen Garcia in favor of sophomore Connor Shaw. After being named the opening game starter against East Carolina, Shaw struggled mightily and SC fell behind 17 points. Garcia replaced Shaw and sparked a SC blowout and has been the starter since until now. The ole ball coach said Tuesday he has no plans of benching the sophomore quarterback again if he struggles: “It’s Connor’s game. Unless he gets hurt, this is his game.” Here’s what to expect from South Carolina:
Players to Watch
Offense:
RB Marcus Lattimore
Lattimore is one of the most dominant, complete running backs in college football, and has carried the SC offense the past two seasons. He leads the SEC with 677 rushing yards. Against the Cats last year, Lattimore accounted 212 yards from scrimmage and three TD’s, most of which came in the first half before getting injured early in the 3rd quarter.. Lattimore has been the main threat for the Gamecocks this season but is showing signs of wear already. Lattimore has averaged just 3.9 yards per carry over the last two games after starting out with a hefty 6.1q ypg average over the first three games.
WR Alshon Jeffery
UK coach Joker Phillips said it best when describing Jeffrey as a great basketball rebounder. Jefferey uses his 6-4, 229 lb frame to muscle away nearly every jump ball he gets a shot at. No corner in college football can cover him one-on-one. He’s got 19 receptions for 332 yards and two TD’s on the year. UK will have no choice but to double team him if they are to contain him. The main knock against Jeffery has not been Jeffery himself, but the fact that Garcia has not been able to get him the ball consistently. Jeffery does not have a 100 yard game on the season and he had just 69 yards total against Navy and Vanderbilt.
QB Connor Shaw
The biggest wildcard in Saturday’s game will no doubt be Connor Shaw. He’s only played one half of football this year and has only thrown 11 passes, completing 4 of them. Shaw has shown the ability to be a dual-threat QB, as he has 9 rushes for 40 yards. He has yet to get any significant playing time in his 2 years at SC, so he is still hard to provide a full scouting report on. UK should throw the kitchen sink at him when he passes and look to load up the box to contain Lattimore. Put all of the pressure on Shaw to beat UK, as this will be his first start against an SEC opponent.
WR Bruce Ellington
Yes. THAT Bruce Ellington. The PG for the basketball team is actually the fourth leading receiver for the football Gamecocks with 5 catches for 75 yards on the season. I’m not saying he will have a big game as the SC passing game is primarily Jeffery and short passes to Marcus Lattimore, but it’s interesting that someone is doing the whole football/basketball thing. And as always with Spurrier, there has been controversy that he “poached” Bruce Ellington.
Defense:
DL Melvin Ingram
Ingram has been SC’s MVP through the first 5 games thus far. Ingram was named the SEC’s defensive player of the week for his performance against Auburn last Saturday, getting 3.5 sacks and an interception. It was the second straight time Ingram’s earned the SEC defensive honor. Ingram has scored three touchdowns this season, including a 68-yard TD off a fake punt in SC’s 45-42 win at Georgia. He’ll occasionally drop back into coverage and has two interceptions on the year. He’ll line up at DE mostly, but will kick inside to DT on occasion. He’s dealing with a foot injury right now and may miss the game Saturday.
CB Antonio Allen
The senior corner-back leads the Gamecocks with three interceptions on the year and has arguably been SC’s 2nd best defensive player thus far into the season. He breaks on the ball very well, and has great receiver skills to pull down tough interceptions. He’s also a very physical DB and is the leading tackler on the team with 49 total tackles and is tied for the team lead with 3 forced fumbles.
Predictions:
History doesn’t lie. UK has lost 18 straight road games to ranked opponents. I don’t see the Cats ending that against a Carolina team coming off a loss with SEC championship aspirations. They can’t afford to overlook the Cats and will come in focused and ready to dish out a heavy dose of LattimoreGamecocks
win 30-13.
(Paul Jordan): I tend to disagree with Jason today. Yes, South Carolina is ranked, but based on their play this year, they should not be. It’s noting that the voters dropped the Gamecocks eight spots after a loss to Auburn, meaning the pollsters were not sold on South Carolina either. Simply put, this will be an ugly game. I don’t expect Connor Shaw to step in and be a miracle worker, meaning that Kentucky will have to deal with a healthy dose of Marcus Lattimore. However, it is a lot easier to stop a one dimensional team and if Shaw struggles, that will lessen Jeffery’s impact. Simply put, 18th ranked teams that are 4-1 do not just replace a senior QB midseason, as dreadful as Garcia has been. The Gamecocks offense is in disarray and Kentucky’s defense can contain them. The real question is on the offensive side, and I hope that Kentucky can find a way to put 21 points on the board. If so, Joker has broken another streak and put his season back on track with a 21-17 Kentucky victory.
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