Defense guides South Carolina to 35-13 victory over Kentucky

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s defense returned two turnovers for touchdowns within a span of three plays on Saturday night and the Gamecocks beat Kentucky, 35-13.

The Wildcats (2-2, 0-2 SEC) were gashing South Carolina with the run and held a 10-7 lead in the second quarter. Quarterback Cutter Boley was sacked by Dylan Stewart, the ball popped loose and defensive lineman Jatius Geer retrieved it, chugging 40 yards for a touchdown.

Two plays later, Boley cast into the secondary but his pass clanged off the hands of Kendrick Law. South Carolina’s Gerald Kilgore gobbled the carom and sprinted 45 yards to the end zone.

“Obviously when you score twice on defense, you’re going to be really hard to beat,” coach Shane Beamer said. “We didn’t just want to win the turnover battle, we wanted to dominate it.”

Trailing 21-10, the Wildcats tried to get their offense back in gear. Boley again threw deep but was belted by Desmond Umeozulu on the throw.

South Carolina’s Brandon Cisse intercepted to start another touchdown drive. The Gamecocks (3-2, 1-2) added another touchdown in the fourth quarter while Kentucky only managed a field goal after its quick 10-0 start.

Key takeaways

South Carolina: The Gamecocks’ maligned offense had a respectable night, scoring three touchdowns of their own to one-up the defense’s two, but still struggled to run the ball (they ended with 48 carries for 178 yards, elevated by a grind-it-out fourth-quarter drive. South Carolina had 18 carries for 76 yards in the first half). Quarterback LaNorris Sellers was better at escaping sacks but still took too many avoidable hits by not throwing the ball away.

Kentucky: Boley was leaning on his running game and it looked like the answer early. The turnovers dug him a hole he couldn’t escape, especially as the Gamecocks’ pass-rushing elevated (six sacks).

He named it

South Carolina’s Jaquel Holman returned the second-half kickoff from the goal line to Kentucky’s 41. But the play was reversed to the 25.

Nyck Harbor had stretched his arms out in the “T” signal that told the kicking team that USC was going to fair-catch it. Even though Harbor didn’t touch the ball, because he signaled it, it covered the entire team.

The rule changed this year. In the Citrus Bowl last year, the Gamecocks signaled the “T” and then returned the kick anyway, which was later the impetus for a brouhaha between Beamer and Illinois coach Bret Bielema.

It has become unofficially known as “The Shane Beamer Rule.”

Elder penalty

Kentucky running back Seth McGowan scored the game’s first touchdown and threw the ball into the stands in the south end zone of Williams-Brice Stadium. The ball deflected off a fan’s left shoulder.

The fan, Sellers said, was his grandfather, who was seated directly behind the rail next to the hedges that border the field. “I saw it, I saw everything that happened,” Sellers said.

Sellers said his grandfather was good afterward.

McGowan was not penalized during the game.

Up next

South Carolina: Following a bye week, the Gamecocks are at No. 4 LSU on Oct. 11.

Kentucky: The Wildcats are at No. 5 Georgia on Oct. 4.

___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football