By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Kentucky coach Will Stein didn’t hesitate when he went for a two-point conversion in overtime on Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.
Quarterback Kenny Minchey’s two-point conversion completion to tight end Willie Rodriguez near the back line of the end zone completed the largest road SEC comeback in school history as the No. 24 Wildcats shocked South Carolina 35-34 in overtime. Kentucky erased a 17-point deficit to end a four-game losing streak to the Gamecocks.
“That was a wild one,” Stein said on his postgame radio show. “Hats off to South Carolina. I thought they played super hard. … We battled and it wasn’t pretty. Good teams find a way to win, and that’s what it was tonight. It was a really good football team here with us in Kentucky and we found a way to win on the road in the SEC.”
The Wildcats (4-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) left Columbia dancing in a Sandstorm and handed South Carolina its eighth consecutive SEC loss since a 35-13 win over the Wildcats last season.
Stein compared the win to Kentucky’s 1998 national championship basketball team, known as the “Comeback Cats.”
“I was a big Wildcat basketball fan,” Stein said in a postgame television interview. “… Comeback Cats here in Columbia. I love it. I love the fight. I love the grit.”
The Kentucky coach, whose team has won its first two road games, never wavered even after falling behind 17-0 after giving up 14 points in the first quarter.
“We said this whole week, (we’re) a band of brothers,” Stein said. “A band of brothers came to Columbia, South Carolina, got a win in a really tough environment versus an excellent coach.”
Kentucky had to overcome South Carolina quarterback Lanorris Sellers, who accounted for 373 of the Gamecocks’ 458 total yards. Sellers threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 147 yards. He had a 74-yard run that set up a crucial TD in the fourth quarter.
South Carolina drove for a score on its possession of overtime.to lead 34-27.
After the Wildcats scored a touchdown on Minchey’s strike to Henry Boyer on their overtime possession to pull within 34-33, Stein held up two fingers, indicating he was going for the win instead of the tying extra point. He wanted to keep Sellers off the field, and it paid off, giving Kentucky an overtime win for the first time since edging Eastern Kentucky in 2015.
“We decided right at the beginning of overtime (to go for two), the momentum kind of swung back to them after regulation,” Stein said. “I felt like if we were able to go down there and score, our best chance to leave this place with a win was to go for two and go for the win.
“(It was) great execution by our guys, great protection check by Kenny to get him protected. To step up in the pocket, deliver it, backline hairline-type throw, really with the toe tap and the rest is history.”
Minchey threw for 272 yards and three touchdowns as the Wildcats racked up 394 yards of offense, with 374 of those yards coming in the final three quarters. Kenny Darby had 12 catches for 96 yards and a touchdown, while Nic Anderson added 80 yards on five receptions.
Stein wasn’t surprised by South Carolina’s showing coming off a 49-18 loss to Alabama last week.
“That’s a good football team. I don’t care what anybody says,” he said. “They were battling Alabama, and then Alabama did what they did to us.”
The win was the second against an SEC foe on the road. The Wildcats defeated Texas A&M 31-21 on Sept. 19 at College Station and brace for a contest against LSU at home Saturday night.
“Kentucky football is here to stay,” Anderson said. “We have a great leader in Will Stein, and we’re ready to take on anybody that lines up against us.”
Meanwhile, the pressure will certainly increase on South Carolina coach Shane Beamer, who was booed as he walked off the field. He understands the bottom line is he and his team must win to ensure he remains in charge of the program.
“We’re not here for moral victories,” he said. “I’m proud of the way they competed and the way they responded. But ultimately you’re judged on wins and losses.”
Beamer is 35-33 overall at South Carolina and 16-27 in SEC play.
