What we learned from the Gamecocks' win over Kentucky
Oct. 11, 2022
Gamecocks now have a 3-game winning strike at the halfway point of the season with a 4-2 record on the gridiron and find themselves back in the driver’s seat with the season that started to veer off the tracks three weeks ago. Gamecocks' downed No. 13 Kentucky 24-14 on the road Saturday night, giving Shane Beamer his first win over an Associated Press Top 25 team as head coach in Columbia. What have the Gamecocks learned from the crucial victory over 13th-rank Kentucky :
GAMECOCKS AND THIS NEWFOUND MOMENTUM
It’s only been three weeks since South Carolina was beaten down by then-No. 1 Georgia. How times change. South Carolina suddenly feels like it is in the best possible position it could be in six weeks into the 2022 season.
It’s not hard to imagine The Gamecocks will be favored in its next three games against Texas A&M, Missouri, and Vanderbilt. Extrapolating out even further, Beamer’s could well be 7-2 when it rolls into Gainesville for a November slate that includes Florida, Tennessee, and Clemson. The Gamecocks are going to enjoy Saturday night and rightfully so. But a second bowl berth under Beamer appears as close to a certainty as it has all year. Sure, South Carolina would love to be 6-0. However, sitting at 4-2 and with the way the schedule lines up, the Gamecocks have things in a great spot for the second half of the year.
GAMECOCKS HAVE ALL KINDS OF MOMENTUM
It’s only been three weeks since South Carolina was flattened by then-No. 1 Georgia. How times change. South Carolina suddenly feels like it is in the best possible position it could be in six weeks into the 2022 season. It’s not hard to imagine the Gamecocks will be favored in its next three games against Texas A&M, Missouri, and Vanderbilt.
Extrapolating out even further, Beamer’s could well be 7-2 when it rolls into Gainesville for a November slate that includes Florida, Tennessee, and Clemson. The Gamecocks are going to enjoy Saturday night and rightfully so. But a second bowl berth under Beamer appears as close to a certainty as it has all year. Sure, South Carolina would love to be 6-0. However, sitting at 4-2 and with the way the schedule lines up, the Gamecocks have things in a great spot for the second half of the year.
SPENCER RATTLER STRUGGLED, BUT HE CONTINUES TO WORK THROUGH IT
Rattler still hasn’t been the quarterback South Carolina thought it might be getting, but the second half of Saturday’s contest felt like tangible growth. Despite completing six of his first nine passes, the former Oklahoma signal-caller looked out of sorts in the first half. He missed receivers. He wasn’t scanning the defense effectively. His second-quarter interception, too, was an egregious under-throw. Still, Rattler rebounded. He completed 8 of 10 second-half passes. He recorded 138 of his 177 passing yards over the final 30 minutes. He also finished the game 6 of 9 on third down passes.
Rattler wasn’t perfect by any stretch. However, he made plays when South Carolina desperately needed them. That should count for something, even if he needs to be better across an entire game.
GAMECOCKS' STOPPING THE RUN
DC Clayton White deserved every cent of the $200,000 raise he received last summer, but his units had slowly started to regress against the run. That stopped on Saturday. Kentucky running back Chris Rodriguez finished the night with 126 yards on 22 carries, but the numbers don’t quite indicate how well South Carolina stalled him throughout the contest.
Rodriguez recorded just four carries of 10 yards or more. He averaged just 3.5 yards per on his 18 other touches. The point is, South Carolina kept Rodriguez in front of it. The Gamecocks now to keep the momentum it found against the run on Saturday through the coming bye when Texas A&M comes to town in two weeks’ time.
RB MARSHAWN LLOYD COMING ON AND THEN SOME
QB Spencer Rattler was all out of sorts during Saturday’s first half (More on that in a second), but it was MarShawn Lloyd who largely proved a stabilizing presence throughout the night. Lloyd finished the contest with his second career 100-yard rushing game, racing for 110 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries to go with another 31 yards receiving.
He’s now had at least 70 yards of total offense in four of six games while combining for 359 yards rushing the last three weeks. Lloyd’s 45-yard fourth-quarter run on Saturday set up the reverse toss touchdown run by Jalen Brooks two plays later that gave South Carolina the back-breaking touchdown it desperately needed. It was the kind of explosive play Lloyd had been sniffing around all night, finally getting it in one of the game’s most crucial moments. Lloyd should remain a focal point of every ongoing offensive conversation for the rest of the year.
THE GAMECOCKS ARE NOW FORCING TURNOVERS IN BUNCHES
Kentucky definitely wasn’t the same team without quarterback Will Levis on Saturday. That doesn’t change South Carolina’s defense continuing to be a ballhawk of late. The Gamecocks forced two turnovers on Saturday one fumble and one interception and now have at least two in each of the last three games.
Barion Brown’s bobbled pitch that was recovered by Tonka Hemingway jumpstarted South Carolina to a 2-yard touchdown plunge by Lloyd 13 seconds into the game. The fourth-quarter interception UK backup quarterback Kaiya Sheron threw also functionally ended the game. South Carolina ranked tops in the SEC in takeaways a year ago. It recorded only one total over its first three games. Now, though, White’s unit is creating all sorts of havoc and helping the offense in the process.
Oct. 11, 2022
Gamecocks now have a 3-game winning strike at the halfway point of the season with a 4-2 record on the gridiron and find themselves back in the driver’s seat with the season that started to veer off the tracks three weeks ago. Gamecocks' downed No. 13 Kentucky 24-14 on the road Saturday night, giving Shane Beamer his first win over an Associated Press Top 25 team as head coach in Columbia. What have the Gamecocks learned from the crucial victory over 13th-rank Kentucky :
GAMECOCKS AND THIS NEWFOUND MOMENTUM
It’s only been three weeks since South Carolina was beaten down by then-No. 1 Georgia. How times change. South Carolina suddenly feels like it is in the best possible position it could be in six weeks into the 2022 season.
It’s not hard to imagine The Gamecocks will be favored in its next three games against Texas A&M, Missouri, and Vanderbilt. Extrapolating out even further, Beamer’s could well be 7-2 when it rolls into Gainesville for a November slate that includes Florida, Tennessee, and Clemson. The Gamecocks are going to enjoy Saturday night and rightfully so. But a second bowl berth under Beamer appears as close to a certainty as it has all year. Sure, South Carolina would love to be 6-0. However, sitting at 4-2 and with the way the schedule lines up, the Gamecocks have things in a great spot for the second half of the year.
GAMECOCKS HAVE ALL KINDS OF MOMENTUM
It’s only been three weeks since South Carolina was flattened by then-No. 1 Georgia. How times change. South Carolina suddenly feels like it is in the best possible position it could be in six weeks into the 2022 season. It’s not hard to imagine the Gamecocks will be favored in its next three games against Texas A&M, Missouri, and Vanderbilt.
Extrapolating out even further, Beamer’s could well be 7-2 when it rolls into Gainesville for a November slate that includes Florida, Tennessee, and Clemson. The Gamecocks are going to enjoy Saturday night and rightfully so. But a second bowl berth under Beamer appears as close to a certainty as it has all year. Sure, South Carolina would love to be 6-0. However, sitting at 4-2 and with the way the schedule lines up, the Gamecocks have things in a great spot for the second half of the year.
SPENCER RATTLER STRUGGLED, BUT HE CONTINUES TO WORK THROUGH IT
Rattler still hasn’t been the quarterback South Carolina thought it might be getting, but the second half of Saturday’s contest felt like tangible growth. Despite completing six of his first nine passes, the former Oklahoma signal-caller looked out of sorts in the first half. He missed receivers. He wasn’t scanning the defense effectively. His second-quarter interception, too, was an egregious under-throw. Still, Rattler rebounded. He completed 8 of 10 second-half passes. He recorded 138 of his 177 passing yards over the final 30 minutes. He also finished the game 6 of 9 on third down passes.
Rattler wasn’t perfect by any stretch. However, he made plays when South Carolina desperately needed them. That should count for something, even if he needs to be better across an entire game.
GAMECOCKS' STOPPING THE RUN
DC Clayton White deserved every cent of the $200,000 raise he received last summer, but his units had slowly started to regress against the run. That stopped on Saturday. Kentucky running back Chris Rodriguez finished the night with 126 yards on 22 carries, but the numbers don’t quite indicate how well South Carolina stalled him throughout the contest.
Rodriguez recorded just four carries of 10 yards or more. He averaged just 3.5 yards per on his 18 other touches. The point is, South Carolina kept Rodriguez in front of it. The Gamecocks now to keep the momentum it found against the run on Saturday through the coming bye when Texas A&M comes to town in two weeks’ time.
RB MARSHAWN LLOYD COMING ON AND THEN SOME
QB Spencer Rattler was all out of sorts during Saturday’s first half (More on that in a second), but it was MarShawn Lloyd who largely proved a stabilizing presence throughout the night. Lloyd finished the contest with his second career 100-yard rushing game, racing for 110 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries to go with another 31 yards receiving.
He’s now had at least 70 yards of total offense in four of six games while combining for 359 yards rushing the last three weeks. Lloyd’s 45-yard fourth-quarter run on Saturday set up the reverse toss touchdown run by Jalen Brooks two plays later that gave South Carolina the back-breaking touchdown it desperately needed. It was the kind of explosive play Lloyd had been sniffing around all night, finally getting it in one of the game’s most crucial moments. Lloyd should remain a focal point of every ongoing offensive conversation for the rest of the year.
THE GAMECOCKS ARE NOW FORCING TURNOVERS IN BUNCHES
Kentucky definitely wasn’t the same team without quarterback Will Levis on Saturday. That doesn’t change South Carolina’s defense continuing to be a ballhawk of late. The Gamecocks forced two turnovers on Saturday one fumble and one interception and now have at least two in each of the last three games.
Barion Brown’s bobbled pitch that was recovered by Tonka Hemingway jumpstarted South Carolina to a 2-yard touchdown plunge by Lloyd 13 seconds into the game. The fourth-quarter interception UK backup quarterback Kaiya Sheron threw also functionally ended the game. South Carolina ranked tops in the SEC in takeaways a year ago. It recorded only one total over its first three games. Now, though, White’s unit is creating all sorts of havoc and helping the offense in the process.
