South Carolina Gamecocks (2-7) on Kentucky Wildcats (3-6)
- Game time: 7:30 PM EST
- Location: Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky.
- Television channel: Today’s game can be viewed on the SEC Network.
- Speakers: Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers and Cole Cubelic will be on the conference call.
- Stream online: WatchESPN and fuboTV
- Repeat: WatchESPN and SEC Network (check local listings).
- Radio: Tom Leach and Jeff Piecoro will call the action on the UK radio network, called 630 AM, 98.1 FM in Lexington, and the UK Sports Network.
- Odds: Kentucky opened as a 10.5 point favorite, and the line is now 11.5. ESPN FPI gives Wildcats a 68.0% chance of winning.
- Rosters: UK | USC
- Climate: Clear skies and 30 to 30 degrees with 2% chance of rain, according to Covers.
- Prediction: TeamRankings projects a 28-18 win for the Cats, while numberFire went with a 26-16 win for Kentucky.
In the final game of a wild and unpredictable 2020 college football season, the Kentucky Wildcats will host the South Carolina Gamecocks on Senior Day to end the regular season.
Kentucky comes into play 3-6, while Gamecocks have only two wins in the year. Both teams are looking to end this conference just scheduled with a W.
South Carolina is entering its third game after firing coach Will Muschamp. Once considered to have Gamecocks on the precipice of contention for SEC East, the South Carolina program has continued to underperform in recent years. This season, after starting year 2-5, the administration got tired and decided to look for a new coach.
South Carolina was being led by senior quarterback Collin Hill, who had an up and down season. He completed just 59% of his passes and launched as many interceptions as touchdown passes.
However, Hill was eliminated during the 17-10 defeat of the Gamecocks to Missouri on 21 November. Since then, the freshman Luke Doty has taken over and completed 32/45 passes for 320 yards and a score against two choices against the Tigers and in the 45-16 loss to Georgia last week.
Doty can also run, since he was responsible for 59 yards in 15 runs against Missouri. However, he had -15 yards in 15 races against Georgia, part of which was due to the three bags he took. Kentucky should be prepared to see Doty or Hill this week.
Wide receiver Shi Smith and tight end Nick Muse carry the load with the receiving body, combining more than 1,000 receiving yards and five touchdowns in the year. Smith is a true gamebreaker who could destroy Kentucky high school if they don’t come prepared, especially now that cornerback Kelvin Joseph has chosen to focus on the NFL’s 2021 draft.
It is important to note that Smith lost the Georgia game due to an injury, but is expected to play this week.
Gamecocks rely heavily on the racing game as well, and they have a running back that hopes to reach the 1,000 yard mark for the season. Kevin Harris has 928 yards on 164 loads this season, good for 5.7 yards per race. He also found the end zone 14 times a year, which is good for second place in the SEC. The Wildcats will have to charge against the racing game and force anyone in QB to beat them if they want to win this game.
Kentucky’s game plan is much more mysterious. Last season, wide receiver Lynn Bowden took most of the snaps from the center back. The Wildcats chose to pass the ball through their opponents’ throat, even though they knew there was no threat of passing. This season, however, the passing attack was only marginally better than a year ago.
You can blame the calling game, the quarterback game, or the lack of game doing wide receivers. The truth is that there is enough guilt for everyone. But with the frustration coming from the players after last week’s defeat, the pressure is really on Eddie Gran this week to make something happen with the offensive scheme.
It will be interesting to see if the Wildcats chose to ride with the starters they had throughout the year or if they chose to have the young players do some repetitions before the end of the season. Of course you want to end the season with a win. But given the lack of productivity of some seniors, it is difficult to believe that there would be a big drop in the transition to the second team with some positions.
Much like life, we all tend to carry the feelings of the most recent event. If Kentucky performs well on Saturday and wins, no matter who is making the plays, many fans will end the season with positive feelings about where the program is. But if this team continues the downward spiral we’ve seen since defeating Tennessee, Big Blue Nation will be calling for big changes in the off season.
With a victory on Saturday, Kentucky would likely receive an invitation to the bowl. Yahoo Sports’ latest projection shows Cats in the Music City Bowl versus the 10 Indiana Hoosiers. Despite all the problems and challenges that Kentucky had to overcome this year, reaching a bowl like that against an opponent in the top 25 would be a great opportunity to end the season on a strong note.
But for that to happen, Kentucky must first take care of business in its last home game of 2020.