Three takeaways as Kentucky football lays an egg against South Carolina

Three takeaways from Kentucky football’s 31-6 loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks at Kroger Field on Saturday.

1. Shane Beamer clearly has Mark Stoops’ number

After a 16-10 Kentucky win against South Carolina in Columbia in 2021, Mark Stoops was 7-2 against the Gamecocks. Three years later, he’s 7-5.

After beating Shane Beamer in their initial meeting to continue his mastery over his SEC foe, Stoops has now dropped three straight to the South Carolina coach. The Gamecocks won 24-14 in Lexington in 2022. The Gamecocks won 17-14 in Columbia in 2023. Saturday, South Carolina rolled 31-6 over the Cats in 2024. For Kentucky, each loss was more dispiriting that the one before.

If the last two losses were frustrating defeats for Stoops’ Cats, Saturday’s was baffling. After all, Stoops’ troops entered the contest a nine- or 10-point favorite depending on your betting platform of choice. Kentucky was fresh off a 31-0 weather-shortened handling of overmatched Southern Miss. Meanwhile, South Carolina was forced to rally in the fourth quarter to beat visiting Old Dominion 23-19. And while Kentucky was picked to finish 11th in the newly expanded 16-team SEC by the media, South Carolina was picked to finish 13th.

Ah, but Beamer clearly has the Cats’ number. Up 10-6 in a nip-and-tuck game at the half, the Gamecocks blew the doors open with a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter. For the game, South Carolina’s formidable defense held the Cats to a measly 183 yards of total offense, UK’s lowest total in that department in a non-COVID season game since managing but 177 yards against Georgia in 2019.

By margin, Saturday’s was Kentucky’s worst loss to the Gamecocks since Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina team blitzed Joker Phillips’ Cats 54-3 in 2011 in Columbia. Ouch.

“Very disappointed,” Stoops said afterward. “Not happy with our coaching, with our response, with the way we played.”

2. A rough performance by Kentucky’s offensive line

When it comes down to the nitty-gritty, football is a game of blocking and tackling. Start with the blocking. If you can’t block the opponent, you have no chance. And in simple terms Saturday, Kentucky could not block its opponent. Thus the Cats had no chance.

It didn’t help matters when starting right offensive tackle Gerald Mincey was injured in the first half, though the transfer did return. It hurt even worse when starting left guard Jager Burton, a three-year starter, was injured on an Alex Raynor field goal make right before halftime. Burton did not play in the second half.

Without specifying the Lexington native’s injury, Stoops said “it will probably be tough” for the senior to return for next Saturday’s game against top-ranked Georgia.

Even before Burton’s injury, Kentucky’s O-line had no answer for the South Carolina pass rush, led by edge rushers Kyle Kennard and Dylan Stewart, the latter a five-star true freshman sensation. The Cats just could not hold up in pass protection for quarterback Brock Vandagriff, who was making his second college start.

That turned the home team into a one-dimensional attack — offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan called 17 straight running plays at one point — that failed to consistently move the ball against the visitors.

When Kentucky fell behind and needed Vandagriff to throw, the Georgia native either appeared rushed or too focused on his primary receiver. “We couldn’t get into any rhythm,” Hamdan said.

“Hats off to South Carolina, they played a great game,” Vandagriff said. “We’ve got to get things straightened out on offense and get back to work.”

3. It doesn’t get easier from here

As we mentioned before, South Carolina was picked to finish 13th in the 16-team SEC. The Gamecocks were coming off a 5-7 season. Next Saturday at 7:30, Kentucky faces the team that was voted No. 1 in the preseason AP college football poll, and remained there after spanking Clemson 34-6 last Saturday in Atlanta. That would be none other than the Georgia Bulldogs.

Ohio University comes to Kroger Field on Sept. 21, but then Stoops’ club must travel to Oxford to face an Ole Miss team that was ranked No. 6 in the AP Top 25 heading into Saturday’s play. On down the road lies Auburn, Tennessee and Texas. Tennessee and Texas are both road games.

Actually, it won’t matter who Kentucky plays if Kentucky plays like it did Saturday. Afterward, Stoops appeared more upset by his team’s lack of a response. He wouldn’t say his team quit in the second half, but he did say that, “Today we didn’t look like a well-coaching team and didn’t look like a team that wanted to respond. ... That’s on me.”

It’s in on him. We’re just two weeks down, with 10 more to go. But this isn’t the start Kentucky football wanted, or needed.

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