Staff Predictions: South Carolina vs. Kentucky
Everyone has sold their South Carolina stock. They were thoroughly embarrassed by Arkansas and Georgia on national television, prompting an overcorrection by the average college football fan.
Those who are following this team understand they are trending upwards; some may dismiss their progress due to a lackluster schedule, but the signs are there. The Gamecocks travel to Lexington, Kentucky, on Saturday evening for a monumental contest that changes the tone of their season. So, what does our staff think about the game?
Evan Crowell: South Carolina 24 - Kentucky 17
The public seems to be leaning toward Kentucky, even with the injury to quarterback Will Levis. Levis is the heartbeat of this offense, and without him, it's reasonable to assume the Wildcats will struggle to muster anything.
Nonetheless, even assuming Levis plays, I see an upset here. Kentucky's trench play is abysmal, and South Carolina's defensive front is too good not to capitalize. Quarterback Spencer Rattler needs to play four clean quarters of football, something he's done the past two weeks.
Andrew Lyon: South Carolina 21 - Kentucky 20
This is a prediction I wouldn't have put in just 48 hours ago, as I originally planned to favor the Wildcats in this matchup. Recent rumblings, however, out of Lexington that Kentucky quarterback Will Levis could be questionable for this contest have caused a drastic shift in my mind regarding how I think this game will play out.
Based on what I've seen, I'm going to assume that Levis won't play, and if that's the case, redshirt freshman Kaiya Sheron will play his first-ever college football game Saturday night. That formula would equal a heavy dose of Chris Rodriguez Jr. and other Wildcat running backs getting the football against the Gamecocks' defensive front.
I don't believe Kentucky can do what it did last year and win this game by running the ball and playing solid defense. South Carolina will take advantage of problematic trench play by Kentucky on both sides of the ball to squeeze out the win in the end.
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