Kentucky opened the game with promise, electing to receive the ball after winning the toss. The Wildcats marched down the field, and running back Seth McGowan capped the drive with a 20-yard touchdown run. In celebration, McGowan fired the ball toward the wall behind the end zone — but missed his mark, hitting a fan who turned out to be South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers’ grandfather.
South Carolina insider Lauren Beasley reported that medical personnel were called to check on the fan.
Medical team and police on the scene of the fan that for hit by the football thrown into the stands by a Kentucky player. The fan is in a wheelchair.
— 𝐿𝒶𝓊𝓇𝑒𝓃 𝐵𝑒𝒶𝓈𝓁𝑒𝓎 (@LBknowsBall) September 28, 2025
No flag on that though. pic.twitter.com/HcqSsOGKMe
Sellers later confirmed his grandfather was fine, joking that he recognized him on the Jumbotron:
“Yeah, he was good. … I went to him after the game and he was good. I saw everything happen. I saw it, then they showed it on the Jumbotron, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s my granddad.’”
McGowan went on to finish with 112 yards on 17 carries, gutting through an injury, according to Mark Stoops. But Kentucky’s 7–0 start quickly unraveled, as the Wildcats were outscored 35–6 the rest of the way in a 35–13 loss.
For his part McGowan took to X to offer an apology, which you can see below:
If anyone can get me in contact with the fan or his family I would like to formally apologize to them and make it up any way possible. Also I would like to apologize to the entire fans of South Carolina Football and their program.
— Seth McGowan (@Sjmcg_28) September 28, 2025
Shane Beamer owns Mark Stoops
The defeat marked Stoops’ fourth straight loss to Shane Beamer and Kentucky’s 14th loss in its last 16 SEC games. The program is now riding its longest SEC losing streak since Stoops’ first year in 2012-2014, going a full calendar year without a conference win. It also means since the sunglasses comment, Mark Stoops hasn't been able to beat South Carolina. So maybe he should start wearing sunglasses?
Things do not get any easier as the Cats travel to Georgia next weekend, then play host to Texas and Tennessee. To say this is a rough stretch of games is an understatement. Stoops was already on the brink of losing the fanbase, and with this embarrassing loss to South Carolina, many fans are ready to move on to basketball season.
Drew Holbrook is an avid Kentucky fan who has been covering the Cats for over 10 years. In his free time he enjoys downtime with his family and Premier League soccer.You can find him on X here. Micah 7:7. #UptheAlbion