South-Carolina
Kentucky, South Carolina looking for strong finish
Kentucky (6-4, 3-4 Southeastern Conference) at South Carolina (4-6, 2-5), Saturday, 7:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
Line: Kentucky by 1 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Series record: South Carolina leads 19-14-1.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Kentucky is hoping to avoid its fourth losing SEC season in the past five years when it faces South Carolina. It’s the final league game for both teams in an unexpectedly down season for each program. The Wildcats started 5-0 and were ranked as high as No. 20. They’ve lost four of their past five including a 49-21 blowout to No. 8 Alabama a week ago. The Gamecocks had high hopes for this season that fell apart during a four-game SEC losing streak. South Carolina must win out to reach six wins and secure a third straight bowl appearance in Shane Beamer’s three years as coach.
KEY MATCHUP
Kentucky RB Ray Davis vs. South Carolina’s run defense, which has been up-and-down much of the season. Davis is second in the SEC in rushing and 71 yards away from 1,000 this season. He would be the 11th Wildcat player with that many in a season and could surpass 1,000 yards career rushing at three different schools. The Gamecocks are giving up 145.2 yards on the ground this season.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Kentucky: QB Devin Leary, the North Carolina State transfer, is second in the SEC and 29th in the country with 19 passing touchdowns. He’s thrown for 2,063 yards with eight interceptions.
South Carolina: WR Xavier Legette continues his stellar season. He had his fifth game this season with 100 or more receiving yards and his second straight in a 47-6 Gamecocks victory over Vanderbilt last week. Legette has 1,093 receiving yards this fall, the fifth South Carolina player to accomplish that in a single season.
FACTS & FIGURES
South Carolina is halfway through a four-game run at home to close the season. The regular season concludes next week vs. in-state rival Clemson. … Kentucky ends its regular season on the road, following this game with a trip to its state rival Louisville. … The Gamecocks are seeking consecutive wins over Kentucky for the first time since winning three in a row in the series from 2011-13. … Kentucky has held seven of its last 11 opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing. South Carolina broke a three-game streak of rushing under 100 yards when it ran for 136 yards in beating Vanderbilt. … South Carolina has used defensive tackles on offense to score touchdowns the past two games. Tonka Hemingway ran for a score against Jacksonville State while Alex Huntley caught a TD pass from Spencer Rattler against Vanderbilt.
South-Carolina
Did the College Football Playoff Field Open Up Enough for South Carolina?
After this weekend’s action, did the college football playoff open up enough for South Carolina to get in?
It was a chaotic weekend of college football as Ole Miss lost to Florida, Oklahoma dominated Alabama, Auburn beat Texas A&M in a thriller, Ohio State handled Indiana and Kansas upset Colorado. A lot of teams that were ahead of the South Carolina Gamecocks in the rankings, but the more important question is did enough spots open up for South Carolina to potentially sneak in?
The Gamecocks will certainly rise closer to the top 12 in the next release of the rankings. They came in at No. 18 this last week and will likely be somewhere around 15 in this week’s rankings. South Carolina might have been too far back to be on the back end of the playoff this go around, but they are certainly inching closer and closer.
There is however one problem for South Carolina. Despite Alabama losing, the Crimson Tide have virtually every edge for a playoff spot over the Gamecocks if a decision came down between them. Alabama has the head to head, they have the better win against Georgia, South Carolina lost to LSU and Alabama dominated LSU on the road. South Carolina does have the better strength of schedule ranking, but that hasn’t seemed to matter too much to the college football playoff committee.
The bottom line is South Carolina has played like on the best teams in college football as of late and has certainly done enough to put themselves into the conversation. However, if the decision came down to “which three loss SEC team do we want to put in?” the Crimson Tide likley check more boxes than South Carolina does.
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South-Carolina
South Carolina at Clemson odds: Early point spread released for Palmetto Bowl, How to Watch
South Carolina and Clemson are set to meet in a game that could potentially carry some College Football Playoff implications, however slim they may be.
The Tigers are looking to crack into the field with two losses, and they need every bit of momentum they can get to continue their climb up the rankings. A win over a very good Gamecocks team would certainly help.
According to lines listed by FanDuel, Clemson will open as a 2.5-point favorite over South Carolina in the contest. The game’s over/under point total has also been set at 51.5 points.
That sets the expectation going into the game: The Tigers are favored by a bit, but certainly not enough that you can make any sweeping generalizations about how the game should go. The Gamecocks can wreck games with their defensive line.
How to watch South Carolina at Clemson
Time: 12 p.m. ET, Nov. 30
Channel: ESPN, FuboTV (streaming)
Location: Memorial Stadium — Clemson, SC
Both teams have had a significant turnaround in the second half of the season after starting a bit slow out of the gates.
South Carolina had winnable games against LSU and Alabama slip by, but the Gamecocks have now ripped off five straight wins behind an improved sense of confidence and crisp execution from LaNorris Sellers and company.
The Gamecocks are playing with a different edge, perhaps following the tone set by a defensive line that can absolutely undress opponents at times. The Tigers will have to find a way to block that very good defensive front.
But Clemson has been good in its own right of late. The Tigers did let a game against Louisville slip away, but they’ve won nine of the last 10 games and have looked dominant in a few of them.
Both teams are coming off blowouts of inferior opponents, so they should be both well-rested and ready to roll on rivalry weekend.
Vegas has the Clemson-South Carolina contest pegged as a pretty close game, so buckle up and get ready for another edition of one of the south’s top rivalries.
South-Carolina
Gamecock uniform report for South Carolina-Wofford
Saturday marks the final home game of the 2024 season for South Carolina. The in-state and 5-6 Wofford Terriers will drive down I-26 from Spartanburg to Columbia to take on the 7-3 Gamecocks. Williams-Brice Stadium is sold out again, completing the program goal of filling the stands for all seven home games this fall.
Through the first ten games of the season, Shane Beamer’s South Carolina football team has not repeated a uniform combination. Alternating garnet, black, and white helmets, jerseys, and pants, the Gamecocks also have mixed in some additional looks with throwbacks, alternate face masks, and updated helmet stickers and stripes.
On Saturday, the trend will end as South Carolina will repeat a uniform combination for the first time this season.
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Around lunchtime, the Gamecock Football account on Twitter/X hinted at the gameday uniform combination. The post showed a picture of what looked like the team’s throwback white helmets in front of an American flag.
Then, a little while later, the social media team revealed the rest of the gameday combination.
South Carolina has once again will rock its 1980 throwback uniforms. The Gamecocks also wore the look during the team’s blowout win over Akron earlier this season.
Saturday is Salute the Troops Day at Williams-Brice Stadium and also Senior Day.
The full list of Senior Day participants can be found here.
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