GAMECOCKS HOLD OFF FEISTY WILDCATS

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier is now 17-0 all time against the University of Kentucky, but Saturday’s victory was a little too close for comfort.  The Gamecocks trailed 17-14 at halftime, but rallied in the second half to finally put away the Wildcats 28-26.  It was also the tenth straight victory for South Carolina over their SEC foes.  The #25 ranked Gamecocks improved to 5-1 with the victory, while Kentucky dropped to 2-3.

The Wildcats had no trouble covering the spread as a +9’ road underdog.  The Gamecocks have won 5 of the last 9 meetings in Columbia, but the Wildcats have covered 5 of the last 9.  The 54 combined points went OVER the posted total of 46.  It was the sixth straight OVER in the series on South Carolina’s home field at Williams-Brice Stadium.

After the game, much of South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier’s praise was for the tenacious play of quarterback Steven Garcia.  Garcia threw for three touchdowns, rushed for another and made a nice rushing play near the end of the game to gain a first down and secure the victory:

"That was a big-time play and sort of shows what he's capable of doing."

Garcia said that his coach isn’t easy to play for:

"Spurrier strives for perfection. He really demands that you be perfect. It's going to be tough, but I feel like I'm getting there."

Spurrier found the ‘silver lining’ in the Gamecocks’ slow start to the game and their inability to open up any kind of margin:

‘It's encouraging our guys are playing to the finish.”

Kentucky hasn’t had an easy time of it lately, off two lopsided losses to #1 Florida and #3 Alabama.  Wildcats’ coach Rich Brooks said he thought his team had a good shot in this matchup:

"This is a game I felt we had a real shot at winning, but we came up short.”
Kentucky’s rough run in the SEC continues next weekend, as they head to Alabama to take on Auburn.  They’ll have a respite on October 24 as they take on Sun Belt Conference entrant Louisiana-Monroe at home before hosting Mississippi State the following weekend.  South Carolina has a big game on deck against #3 ranked Alabama on the road next weekend.  They’ll return home on October 24 to face Vanderbilt before going back out on the road to take on the University of Tennessee at Knoxville the following weekend.