Saturday Blitz
Fansided

South Carolina Football: 3 keys to victory vs. Kentucky in Week 5

By Steven Hamner

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 29: Head coach Will Muschamp of the South Carolina Gamecocks directs his team against the Virginia Cavaliers during the Belk Bowl at Bank of America Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Virginia won 28-0. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 29: Head coach Will Muschamp of the South Carolina Gamecocks directs his team against the Virginia Cavaliers during the Belk Bowl at Bank of America Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Virginia won 28-0. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next

South Carolina football is coming off of two straight SEC losses and will be looking to end that streak against Kentucky this weekend.

South Carolina has gotten off to a rough start to the season as it has started off 1-3 with several tough games still ahead. Kentucky has gotten off to a 2-2 start. Both South Carolina and Kentucky have lost starting quarterbacks to injury and are both coming off back to back SEC losses.

Kentucky is coming into Columbia looking to get a win to put them over .500, while the Gamecocks are attempting to get a step closer to that mark.

Looking ahead at South Carolina’s schedule, they still have Georgia, Florida, Texas A&M and Clemson on their schedule so this game against Kentucky is probably a must win for them to make it to a bowl game. South Carolina is a three-point favorite so let’s look at three keys South Carolina needs to do in order to get the victory.

3. Hold Lynn Bowden Jr. in check

Lynn Bowden Jr. is the leading receiver on Kentucky’s team coming into the game with 27 catches for 330 yards through the first four games. While he has only found the endzone once so far this year, he has made big play after big play for the Wildcat offense.

When Kentucky’s offense has struggled this year, they have looked to Bowden Jr. to be the spark, which he has done. South Carolina will try to take away the run game to force Kentucky to become one-dimensional and rely on their passing game. In doing that, the Wildcats will most certainly look for Bowden Jr., as he has had at least six catches in each game so far.

If South Carolina takes away Kentucky’s run game and makes it hard for the Wildcats to get Bowden Jr. the ball, the Gamecocks’ chances of winning this game will increase.