By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Kentucky continued its recent dominance of South Carolina Saturday night in its Southeastern Conference opener.
The Wildcats (3-0) notched their fourth consecutive victory over the Gamecocks 23-13, spoiling South Carolina’s home opener.
The loss was the first for the Gamecocks who scored on their first possession, but did little to emulate quarterback Jake Bentley’s 68-yard touchdown strike to standout Deebo Samuel on the opening play from scrimmage.
Clinging to a 20-13 lead late in the fourth quarter, Kentucky quarterback Stephen Johnson’s 54-yard run on third down set up a 21-yard field goal by Austin MacGinnis with 2:07 remaining for the game-clincher. MacGinnis connected on three field goals in the second half.
Derrick Baity’s interception in the closing minute sealed the deal for the Wildcats.
Kentucky had a fumble, an interception and a three-and-out on its first three possessions, but scored on two of its final three drives of the first half and led 14-6 at the break. The Wildcats pieced together a pair of long drives, both capped by touchdown runs by Benny Snell.
Snell finished with 102 yards rushing on 32 carries and collected 56 yards in the opening half.
Johnson completed 16-of-25 passes for 169 yards. Johnson threw for 130 yards and completed passes to eight different receivers, includinng three passes of 14 yards or more.
Facing a 6-0 deficit, Kentucky pieced together its longest drive of the season with a 13-play, 75-yard drive capped by Snell’s 5-yard touchdown run with 1:05 remaining in the first quarter for a 7-6 lead. The Wildcats converted four third downs during the successful drive.
The Wildcats had the ball for 18:49 in the first half and outgained the hosts 202-186 in the opening half.
Coverting: Kentucky made nine third-down conversions, including six on eight attempts in the first half. The Wildcats converted four third downs on its first successful scoring drive in the first quarter.
No where to run: Kentucky’s defense, ranked No. 3 in the league in rushing defense, limited the Gamecocks to just 42 yards in the first two quarters. South Carolina finished with just 54 yards rushing. Kentucky stopped the Gamecocks on fourth-and-one on South Carolina’s first drive of the second half. The Wildcats also stopped South Carolina on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line with 14:26 remaining. South Carolina was 3-for-12 on third down.
Tough start: Kentucky freshman Lynn Bowden’s first attempt at running the wildcat was far from memorable. Bowden fumbled the ball on a bad snap during the first quarter. The first two plays out of the wildcat formation resulted in a loss of 14 yards.Bowden’s second snap out of the formation was a 6-yard gain for first down.
Samuel stars: South Carolina receiver and kickoff return specialist wasn’t dominating on special teams, but was effective on offense, hauling in five passes for 122 yards. Samuel caught three passes or 104 yards in the first half.
Gametracker: Florida at Kentucky, 7 or 7:30 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: ESPN2, ESPNU or SEC Network, 98.1 FM, WBUL. Florida defeated Tennessee 26-20 on a 63-yard touchdown pass as time expired Saturday to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Keith Taylor is sports editor for Kentucky Today. Reach him at keith.taylor.sun@gmail.com or twitter @keithtaylor21.