Top 5 Kentucky Wins
Jabari Ellis (© Arden Barnes-USA TODAY Sports)
Stephen Anderson • GamecockScoop
Staff
As we head toward the season, we are doing a series looking at top wins against each of the Gamecocks 2022 opponents. Gamecock Scoop has already looked at the top 5 home openers, the top 5 Arkansas wins, the top 5 Georgia wins, the top 5 non-conference (not Clemson) regular-season wins, and the top 5 Bowl wins in program history. Carolina's Week 6 opponent is those %^$#@$ Kentucky Wildcats. Carolina fans once looked at Kentucky as an afterthought in football. One of the few programs that Gamecock fans felt their team held superiority over. From 1996 to 2013, Carolina won 15 of 18, including a streak of 10 in a row. Since Mark Stoops has arrived in Lexington, the Cats have strung together a 7-2 record against the Cocks. Despite Kentucky's recent run, Carolina still holds an 18-14-1 advantage in the series. This week we are headed back to the good ole days when beating Kentucky was commonplace and taking a look at the top 5 Gamecock wins in the series.
#5 2000 20-17. Gamecocks Prevail in a True Clash of Styles
Coaching philosophies don't differ much more than that of Lou Holtz and Hal Mumme. To Holtz, a screen pass was a risky proposition. Mumme on the other hand is widely credited with creating the Air Raid offense. The first quarter and a half was played at Mumme's pace. With each team trading scores until Kentucky took a 14-10 early in the second quarter. From there, the game slowed down with each team trading field goals to close out the first half scoring. Gamecock DC Charlie Strong's defense would not allow Kentucky to score again.
Late in the third quarter, Carolina scored the only points of the second half on Sophomore running back Derek Watson's 58-yard touchdown run. Watson had 149 rushing yards in the win. Sheldon Brown would intercept Big Jared Lorenzen twice as Carolina held on for a narrow victory. Wideout Brian Scott would have a big night for the Gamecocks with 157 yards receiving and a touchdown. The Darlington native still lives in the Pee Dee working as a sales rep for Cintas. The Gamecocks improved to 5-1 and Hal Mumme would be fired at the end of the season.
#4 2004 12-7. The Game that Set Football Back a Century
This game is not for the faint of heart. The Gamecocks and Wildcats combined for 10 turnovers in this game. Carolina completed only 9-16 passes for 108 yards and did so with the use of three quarterbacks. Kentucky ran the ball 35 times for 80 yards. Their longest run of the game was 10 yards. The first half scoring consisted of two made Josh Brown field goals. Kentucky would finally get on the board after a mammoth 23-play, 94-yard touchdown drive that ate up 11:31 of game time. After a Blake Mitchell interception, Carolina's defense would force a Kentucky punt, then the Gamecocks engineered their own 13-play 88-yard drive behind Juco transfer reserve quarterback Michael Rathe.
Facing a 3rd and 7 on Kentucky's 19-yard line with 1:49 remaining, Holtz got aggressive. Instead of opting for killing some more clock and setting up a go-ahead field attempt, he went for the home run. What ensued was the closest play in Gamecock history to "Montana to Clark". Rather than describe it, scroll to 2:08:30 on the video above and watch for yourself. Feel free to skip the rest of the game.
#3 2013 35-28. Carolina Holds off a Furious Kentucky Comeback
This was Connor Shaw just being Connor Shaw. Shaw threw for 262 yards and a touchdown on 17-20 passing and ran for 50 yards and a score. Shaw was nearly perfect on the night but this game left a bad taste in many Gamecock fans' mouths. The 2013 team had a habit of letting teams back into games late. Earlier in the year, it looked like Carolina was going to cruise to wins over Vanderbilt and UCF, only to find themselves in four-quarter dog fights. The Gamecocks led this game 27-7 before Kentucky cut the lead to 27-21 with 11:50 remaining. Shaw once again took the game over on the ensuing drive with a 31-yard rush to set up his own 2-yard touchdown run. Kentucky would respond with another touchdown drive, but Mike Davis had 17 of his 106 rushing yards on Carolina's final possession to make sure the Wildcats didn't have a chance to complete the comeback. Davis also had two rushing touchdowns in the game.
Furthermore, Jadeveon Clowney did not dress for this game due to a late injury. Gamecock Head Coach Steve Spurrier did not mince his words. On Clowney, he said, "if he wants to play, we will welcome him to come play for the team if he wants, but he if doesn't want to play, he doesn't have to play. Simple as that." Spurrier also added "He may not be able to play next week. I don't know but we're not going to worry about it, I can assure you of that."
#2 2007 38-23. ERIC NORWOOD
"I knew it was time to step up," Eric Norwood said. Referring to a recent string of injuries in Carolina's front seven. And step up he did.
At the time of this game, only three defensive players in NCAA history had scored two touchdowns on fumble returns in the same game. The undersized but high-motored Eric Norwood would become the fourth. Norwood got Carolina on the board early after jumping on an Andre Woodson fumble in the end zone. The play was set up after Kentucky DB and former Philadelphia Eagle, Trevard Lindley punched the ball out of Gamecock tight end Wesley Saunders' arms as he was about to cross the goal line for a touchdown. Two plays later, Carolina defensive lineman Jonathan Williams knocked the ball loose and Norwood did he rest. On Kentucky's first drive of the third quarter, Woodson would throw a quick pass to the flats that was ruled a lateral. Norwood was there to pick the ball up and rumble 52 yards for the score.
Coming into this game Kentucky was 5-0, ranked 8th, and had scored over 40 points in each of their first five games. Carolina was 4-1, ranked 11th, and had only lost at LSU, the eventual National Champion. This game was played on a Thursday night when that meant a national spotlight before the NFL took the slot over. Chris Fowler was on commentary. What we are getting at was that this game felt like a big deal at the time. Unfortunately, the Gamecocks would stumble to a 6-6 record. Kentucky would end their season 8-5, highlighted by a 3OT victory over LSU.
#1 2009 28-26 Alshon's Coming Out Party
Prior to this game, Alshon Jeffrey, the former Rivals Top 250 member had been quiet in the 2009 season. He had only one touchdown, the week prior against SC State, and no receptions against SEC opponents. That all changed when Kentucky came to town. Jeffrey exploded with seven catches for 138 yards and three touchdowns. Every one of them was needed as perennial Gamecock killer Randall Cobb had 151 total yards and two touchdowns for the upset-minded Wildcats.
The game saw five lead changes, with the Gamecocks finally pulling ahead on Jeffrey's third touchdown catch. The Gamecocks would extend their lead to 28-20 on Stephen Garcia's 1-yard touchdown run with 8:22 remaining. Cobb and the Cats responded with a 2-yard rushing touchdown with 4:34 in the game. Luckily, that would be the last time Cobb would touch the football. The Gamecocks picked up two third-down conversions on their last drive to run out the clock. Kenny Miles iced the game with a 14-yard run, but the highlight of the drive was Garcia hurdling a UK defender for a 5-yard run on a 3rd and 4.
"That was a big-time play," Spurrier said of Garcia's leap, "and sort of shows what he's capable of doing." Jeffrey would never need to worry about pumping anyone else's gas ever again.
The Gamecocks will enjoy a week off after Kentucky this fall, but that doesn't mean we are taking a week off here at Gamecock Scoop. Carolina's next opponent is Texas A&M. The Gamecocks have yet to defeat the Aggies so we are going to have to get creative next week. We already counted down Carolina's best non-conference wins, non-Clemson/Bowls, in school history so we are going to countdown the Gamecocks' best non-Clemson wins as an Independent. As always, remember to follow along on The Insiders Forumfor the latest in Gamecock football and next week's SEC Media Days.
