Well, that went sideways quickly. It started well enough for the Cats, who put up 10 first-quarter points and looked like they were going to compete all night. But as the second quarter began, a wave of turnovers doomed any momentum Kentucky had.
Parade of turnovers prove too much to overcome
Cutter Boley had time in the pocket at moments, but more often he was under heavy pressure. Dylan Stewart broke through the line on a stunt and hammered Boley, forcing a fumble. Jatius Geer scooped it up and returned it for a touchdown after Shiyazh Pete failed to fall on the ball. On the very next possession, Boley tried to find Law over the middle but led him too far, resulting in a pick-six for South Carolina. Just like that, a 10–7 lead turned into a 21–10 deficit. Another interception set up a Rahsul Faison touchdown, and the Gamecocks led 28–10 at halftime. That second quarter may have been the single worst quarter of football under Mark Stoops—and that’s no exaggeration.
Kentucky hasn’t scored 28 points in its last 15 SEC games, and the hole was simply too deep to climb out of. The third quarter was largely a defensive battle until late, when Shane Beamer dialed up a fake punt that came up a yard short, giving Kentucky the ball at the South Carolina 39. The Cats managed just 15 yards in seven plays before settling for a field goal to cut the deficit to 15. On the very next play, South Carolina connected on a 61-yard pass to set up a red-zone trip going into the fourth quarter.
Matt Fuller punched it in from a yard out for his first career touchdown, putting the game away at 35–13. From there, Kentucky was simply playing for pride. Symbolic of the night, Dowdell was tackled for a five-yard loss on first down, and two Gamecocks met at Boley for the sixth sack and 10th tackle for loss of the game. Facing 4th-and-7 deep in their own territory, Kentucky chose to punt instead of fighting to stay in the game. It was an attempt to avoid embarrassment—but in reality, it only added to it.
South Carolina closed it out by running the ball 16 straight times, chewing up 68 yards and more than seven minutes of clock. It was a humiliating end to a humiliating performance.
The Mark Stoops era must end
I’ll be blunt—nothing else needs to be said: Fire Mark Stoops. I don't care about the buyout, you can not go any further with him leading the program.
Drew Holbrook is an avid Kentucky fan who has been covering the Cats for over 10 years. In his free time he enjoyes downtime with his family and Premier League soccer.You can find him on X here.Micah 7:7. #UptheAlbion