Worst-case scenarios for UK football’s 2024 season on the table after South Carolina loss

Kentucky football opened SEC play with a 31-6 loss to South Carolina on Saturday, extending the Wildcats’ losing streak in the series to three games.

Now, only two weeks into the season, Mark Stoops and company risk things spiraling out of control with No. 1 Georgia traveling to Kroger Field next week. Here is a look at what the loss to the Gamecocks could mean for the rest of the season.

Time to reset expectations

With 10 games left in the regular season, it would be impossible to definitively declare Kentucky’s season is toast after one loss, but it is now difficult to imagine a scenario where Stoops’ team bests the 7-6 records of the last two years.

Maybe South Carolina ends up being significantly better than the team that struggled to beat Old Dominion in its opener, but the Gamecocks are unlikely to compare to the tests coming for Kentucky. The game against Georgia goes from a possible “College GameDay” showcase had UK beaten South Carolina to just another in a long list of likely blowouts by ranked teams on the schedule next week.

With road trips to Ole Miss, Florida, Tennessee and Texas on the schedule, Kentucky is now no lock to keep its streak of eight consecutive bowl trips alive. Only nonconference games against Ohio and Murray State remain as safe victories for UK.

Returning to a bowl will not excite any Kentucky fan, but that has to be the goal now to avoid a complete disaster.

Shane Beamer sends a message about Kentucky’s future in new SEC

The Kentucky-South Carolina series has been characterized by each team going on runs of dominance.

South Carolina won 13 of 14 from 2000 to 2013. Kentucky won seven of eight from 2014 to 2021. Now South Carolina has won three in a row. The Gamecocks are 3-1 against Kentucky since coach Shane Beamer was hired.

For two programs lacking the historic success of most of their SEC rivals, this game holds increased importance each season in determining success or failure. And in the new-look SEC that importance is only likely to grow.

The future of the SEC schedule remains in flux, but whether the league stays at eight conference games or moves to nine, Kentucky and South Carolina seem likely to be matched as permanent rivals. That means Stoops and company need to regain the advantage in the series to feel good about contending in the expanded SEC.

UK players were clear throughout the week leading up to the game that they believed the last two losses to South Carolina were a product of their own mistakes rather than anything the Gamecocks had done to beat them. You could explain the 2022 loss by noting star quarterback Will Levis did not play due to injury, but the narrative does not hold for the last two meetings, especially Saturday’s blowout.

The results are what they are. Beamer unarguably has Kentucky’s number.

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