By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Mark Stoops has had more success against South Carolina than any other program in the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky football coach has won three straight against the Gamecocks, including a 17-10 triumph last year at Kroger Field.
During the Wildcats’ last visit to Brice-Williams Stadium two years ago, Kentucky edged the hosts 26-22 in a thriller that spiraled into disastrous finish for the Gamecocks, ultimately ending Steve Spurrier’s tenure in Columbia. Stoops admitted the past three games “were big wins, of course,” but he’s not looking back going into Saturday’s conference opener set for 7:30 p.m. in Columbia, S.C.
“I don’t think they mean much going into this game, but there were some good times and some good games,” Stoops said. “But, this is a new year.”
In order to gain an upper hand in the SEC East, the contest is a meaningful one and could help set the tone for the rest of the season for both teams. Stoops admitted that he doesn’t look past the next game, but also knows not much hype is needed to motivate his team.
“How it affects the rest of the year doesn’t even enter our mind, to be honest with you,” Stoops said. “It’s guns loaded and ready to go to work to prepare the best we can to go play a quality team on the road in the SEC. So we don’t need any more motivation than that.”
Unlike Stoops, South Carolina coach Will Muschamp doesn’t mind peaking around the corner to see what lies ahead and said the stakes will be high in the home opener for his squad. South Carolina opened the season with wins over North Carolina State and Missouri, respectively.
“We understand what’s at stake,” said Muschamp, a former assistant coach at Eastern Kentucky University. “It’s the SEC East. It’s the home opener. There are a lot of things. Last year this was a football team that we could not stop in the run game last year. They let us out in the fourth quarter, and we didn’t run the ball at all. That will be a challenge for our guys this week.”
A year ago, the Gamecocks led by double-digits before the Wildcats used a big fourth quarter to get the win. Benny Snell’s late touchdown and a sack by Denzil Ware down the stretch kept the team’s current winning streak against South Carolina intact. Snell said the Wildcats plan to use the same scheme against the Gamecocks this time around.
“I just remember the run game was working and we just kept on executing,” Shell said. “We just kept on running play after play (last year). We found a lot of weak spots with their defense. That’s what we plan to do again.”
Kentucky’s biggest task will be containing South Carolina kickoff return specialist and receiver Debby Samuel, who has returned a pair of kickoffs for a touchdown to open the season, including a 97-yard return for a score in a 31-13 win in the conference opener at Missouri last week. Samuel also is a threat at receiver and has hauled in 10 passes for 128 yards in the first two games. Samuel scored three times in the season opener against N.C. State.
“He’s electric, he’s a playmaker (and) he’s got great vision,” Stoops said. “Like any great returner, you’ve gotta have top-end speed. He obviously has top-end speed to make people miss, but he also have vision. That’s when you know you have a very good football player. He does a lot of things. They want the ball in his hands, he’s got quick-hand touches, he does things on reverses, little fly sweeps, punt and kick returns — many different ways. Obviously they’ll isolate him to get you one-on-one in the passing game.”
In addition to Samuel, Stoops has been impressed with South Carolina’s overall squad.
“It will be a real challenge, but we have to embrace that,” Stoops said. “We’re going to have to play much better football in a lot of areas. They’ve played very well with two quality wins. They’ve been very sound. They’ve played very clean football.”
Stoops added that his team also will have to overcome the atmosphere at Brice-Williams Stadium, one of the loudest venues in the league. Stoops said the Wildcats won’t be fazed by their surroundings.
“I guess pretty amazed really the first time I ever played down there with the atmosphere,” he said. “It was fantastic. Really great venue … at least we know what we’re getting into.”
Gametracker: Kentucky at South Carolina, 7:30 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: SEC Network, 98.1 FM, WBUL.
Keith Taylor is sports editor for Kentucky Today. He can be reached at keith.taylor@kentuckytoday.com or twitter @keithtaylor21.