South Carolina Football: 3 takeaways from win over Kentucky

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COLUMBIA, SC – SEPTEMBER 28: Rico Dowdle #5 celebrates with Jaylen Nichols #52 of the South Carolina Gamecocks after scoring a touchdown during the second half of a game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Williams-Brice Stadium on September 28, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /

2. Bowl eligibility still very much in question for the Gamecocks.

South Carolina has a tough road to go down for the rest of the season. After next week off, they go to Georgia, host Florida, then go to Texas A&M and host Clemson to close the season.

Yes, there is Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Appalachian State sandwiched in there, but all in all, it’s a challenging road that won’t be as easy as facing a team with a banged-up starting quarterback who can’t effectively lead his team to much of anything.

That being said, I saw two things that went hand in hand for the Gamecocks today- desperation and teamwork.

Did they dominate this game on the scoreboard? No, not really. They only scored once each quarter. So, Kentucky didn’t allow things to get too crazy, but South Carolina did just enough to win. However, it is the physicality and teamwork that I saw this week that I hadn’t seen from the Gamecocks so far this season that changed the game in this one. You know where that comes from? Desperation.

When you sit in a 1-3 hole and know that the slate down the stretch isn’t going to be pretty, you know you need this win. My big takeaway overall though, watching this team, I am not sure they will find bowl eligibility this season. I just don’t see five more wins on this schedule, maybe not even four.