Kentucky fans were brought back down to earth this past Saturday, especially in the first half against their non-conference matchup against South Alabama. The Wildcats went out to a quick 7-0 lead near the end of the first quarter; however, South Alabama gave Kentucky all they could handle, putting up 21 points in the second quarter alone. The Jaguars led twice: first when they went up 14-7, and again when they led 21-14.
Kentucky managed to go on to win pretty handily as they shut out the Jaguars in the second half and scored 24 unanswered points to improve to 3-1 on the season before their road matchup this weekend against conference rival South Carolina.
Here is what Kentucky players had to say after the win from this past weekend:
With the win, Kentucky managed to find themselves within the top-25 of the AP Poll ahead of the week 5 games. This is the first time the Wildcats have been in the top-25 AP Poll since week 7 in 2023. However, there is a lot to improve on from this past weekend, as Will Stein mentioned in the postgame press conference.
Looking forward, Kentucky travels to Columbia, South Carolina, this coming Saturday to take on the Gamecocks. Things are not going well down in Columbia as the Gamecocks are currently 2-2 on the season and 0-2 in conference play. Their two wins came against Kent State and Towson, but they struggled against two good teams in Mississippi State and Alabama.
There is a lot of chatter that current South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer might be finding himself in the hot seat, and after some of the antics from defensive end Dylan Stewart, it is becoming more and more likely that Beamer has what I would consider a culture issue. Stewart threw punches at Alabama players, had a couple of unnecessary penalties, and was caught shouting at coaches on the sidelines.
This is a huge loss for the Gamecocks as Stewart is absolutely one of their best players on the defensive side of the ball. The Junior has 57 total tackles, 37 of them are solo, 11 sacks, and 6 forced fumbles in his career. A road game is always a hard matchup no matter how you look at it, but I hope Kentucky isn’t overlooking this South Carolina team in dreaming about their matchup the following week against LSU at home.
Last week, when the opening line came out on DraftKings Sportsbook, Kentucky was a 7-point underdog. Since then, there has been a huge swing, as now Kentucky is only considered a 2.5-point underdog. Like in many years past, this is another game against South Carolina that really can shape what Kentucky’s season will look like. With a win, Kentucky Will improve to 4-1 and will be only two wins away from bowl eligibility. However, with a loss, Kentucky will find themselves 3-2, and it won’t get any easier with LSU, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vandy, and Florida left on the schedule.
At the beginning of the season, I had Kentucky winning 7 games, and this was one of them. I am sticking with my guns, and I think it will be close, but Kentucky will manage to find a way to escape with a win.
I predict the Cats will win with a final score of 23-20. Here’s how the rest of the Cats Coverage staff feels:
Tres Terrell: Kentucky 21, South Carolina 17 MVP – Jason Patterson
Braden Nevius: Kentucky 31, South Carolina 16 MVP – Nic Anderson
Tim Smith: Kentucky 17, South Carolina 14 MVP – Adam Zouagui (game winning field goal)
Wyatt Huff: Kentucky 27, South Carolina 17 MVP – Kenny Darby
Tanin Smith: Kentucky 28, South Carolina 17 MVP – CJ Baxter
Nate Unthank: Kentucky 14, South Carolina 6 MVP – Willie Rodriguez
Tyler Russell: Kentucky 23, South Carolina 13 MVP – CJ Baxter
Ethan Grantz: Kentucky 31, South Carolina 23 MVP – CJ Baxter
Another unanimous prediction by the Cats Coverage crew… How are you feeling about the outcome of the game?
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