Lexington, KY – The Kentucky Wildcats raced out to a 27-3 halftime lead over the Gamecocks (2-8) with a balanced attack led by UK QB Terry Wilson. The Cocks attempted to climb back in the second half, but they allowed several opportunities to escape from an eventual trouncing, 41-18. Wilson completed 17 of 26 passes for 201 yards and a TD. Chris Rodriguez shored things up leading the rushing attack with 139 yards and three TDs. Asim Rose contributed 101 yards and a TD on the same amount of carries as Rodriguez, 14.
Cats pounce
Carolina came up empty on the game’s opening drive with a field goal miss from 39. Kentucky responded on their first possession with a 22-yard FG by Matt Ruffolo. KJ Wright’s first of two fumble recoveries for the Cats on this cold night at SC’s 26 set up Rodriguez’s TD from one-yard out for a quick 10-0 UK lead two plays later. A 15-yard penalty against them on the kick-off and a 52-yard return by Dakareon Joyner put SC at the UK 40. All interim HC Mike Bobo’s squad could get out of this sudden momentum resulted in a 48-yard FG by Parker White to cut the score, 10-3. The second quarter, however, belonged to the Wildcats.
Quick as Cats
RB Kevin Harris carried twice for the Cocks before no gain by QB Luke Doty to punt on fourth and short. The scenario became par for the Carolina game plan in the second. The Wildcats put a together a five-play scoring drive of 81 yards with Rose’s run for eight yards after Wilson’s 21-yard completion to TE Justin Rigg (three catches for 71 yards) for 21 yards to go up, 17-3. With 1:14 left in the quarter, Rodriguez ran in from the two to cap a 7-play, 39-yard drive. On Carolina’s next series, Doty, a frosh, committed an unforced fumble to give the ball back to UK at SC’s 38. As time expired, Ruffolo split the uprights to take a one-sided 27-3 lead into intermission.
Covid crackdowns
In this “unprecedented time” we’re all tired of living in, I’m thankful I had this opportunity to attend only my third, and regretfully, probably my last game of the 2020 season. Happily, my daughter, Alex, a South Carolina grad and die-hard Gamecock football fan joined me. Arriving early Friday evening, as informed, we found all the local eateries and bars closing at 8 o’clock. That relegated us to going to a Steak and Shake drive-through and picking up a six-pack of beer at the liquor store to take back to our hotel room. No complaints, but you like to try some unique options when you visit a town for the first time.
We skipped our hotel’s continental breakfast and found breakfast at Wild Eggs which included alcohol wake-ups, Screw-drivers and Mimosa’s, at outdoor seating in a tent. Facemasks in, 25% capacity, social-distancing, and all the new requirements that loyal customers and the poor businesses have to live by, and understandably for obvious reasons. Afterward, we drove over to the UK campus to browse around to understand the landscape for the 7:30 kickoff. That’s where it became eerie for us. Closed lots, but security in place before noon, and no students, visitors en masse, or vibrant activities anywhere on this beautiful campus. Sports centers sat idle, few prospective student visitors for future classes, and no alumni gatherings to celebrate friendships or to attend an event to bring a campus community together. A few local kids rode bikes on paths where college students roam and congregate from hometowns near and far. It was surreal, like a scene from the movie, “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” Life is not supposed to be this way. Bring on those vaccines and let’s get on with life!
After watching some games on TV back at the hotel, we drove down to Euclid Street to check out The Beer Trappe featuring 500 specialty bottles from around the world and 14 selected beers on tap that day. Kevin the bartender set us up outside at a table as required by current Kentucky law, and Alex and I enjoyed our pregame “tailgate”. Next to the Trappe stood the Bear and Butcher Restaurant who provided table service to us. We enjoyed their soft pretzel appetizer. Alex’s grilled chicken sandwich and my chicken pot pie tasted great. The hot food provided perfect tailgate cuisine as the temperature dropped into the 40s as game time approached.
Despite the restrictions and the weather, we enjoyed our outdoor pregame feast. Kevin thanked us for coming because we along with some customers in and out helped him stay open on a slow afternoon. We enjoyed talking with him going back and forth for refills. Remember to do what you can to support your local businesses! These are tough times for small establishments who depend on loyalty of customers and a few new visitors wandering in.
Cats keep clawing
The Cats continued clawing at the Gamecocks after the opening kickoff to start the third. They ate away at the clock on its initial drive consuming 7:32 with Miller taking the ball over from the two. As dominant as the Wildcats played tonight, much of their success could be attributed to the Cock’s porous defense. Arm-tackling took place more so than any solid shots with a shoulder on the ball carrier. Their tackling methods resembled body throw-downs as opposed to solid tackles in most cases. The Cats broke many of these. They used that to their advantage to lead, 34-7.
The Gamecocks focused after that on their running game, primarily with Kevin Harris. Handing the ball off to their leading rusher, Harris scored on a 15-yard run. He evaded would-be tacklers and ran them over. Leading the SEC in rushing with 928 yards coming in, he finished this evening by the end of the third quarter with 21 carries for 210 yards to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark, the Carolina highlight of the contest. He raced 60 yards to the 25 at the end of Q3 before Frosh Rashad Amos replaced him to carry 12 times for 60 yards at game’s end.
Parting shots
Though the Wildcats (4-6) controlled the game heading into the fourth, both teams took their final shots at each other. Doty tossed a 30-yard TD pass to Dakereon Jones and connected with Nick Muse on the two-point conversion. However, Rodriguez sealed the deal on the subsequent UK possession when he raced downfield for a 79-yard TD jaunt to finalize the score, 41-18, for the Wildcats. The close battle we had hoped for never materialized, but we loved being out in the cold, late season weather for at least one more college football game. Who knows when and where our next one could be?
Next?
In this strange year of coronavirus, despite losing records, both of these schools are under consideration for bowl bids. As much as we’ve enjoyed traveling during bowl weeks in the past to attend multiple games, we just don’t envision the efforts being worthwhile here. Bowl games other than the CFP and a few other games will feature interesting match-ups, but most others are just filling airtime for ESPN. We have no interest seeing a 2-8 or 4-6 play in a “glorified” post-season scrimmage.
Parties, tailgates, restaurants, and bars will allow limited crowds at best. What originated as festivals around a football game to bring fans to enjoy host cities will not be the attraction of fans to this year’s games. We’ll regretfully wait. Who knows if teams will even be able to avoid Covid-19 cancellations? It’s not worth the hassle. Boston College (6-5) just announced they will not consider any bowl invitations this year. About a dozen bowls have already been cancelled. Many don’t seem to be of interest to us.
Start up the coaching carousel
Gamecock fans celebrated soon after the 2-8 season ended as the school announced Oklahoma OC Shane Beamer, former SC assistant and son of VA Tech’s venerable Frank Beamer accepted the vacant head coaching position. My Gamecock alum daughter was thrilled when Beamer announced that he would retain USC QB Connor Shaw on his staff. Shaw played as a tough-as-nails QB for the Gamecocks when she was there. Good start on Beamer’s part.
Despite the offensive burst that the Wildcats displayed this evening, UK HC Mike Stoops made some moves to prepare for future improvements. Offensive coordinator Eddie Gran and quarterbacks coach Darin Hinshaw were fired. The 41 points against this defense could not muster enough enthusiasm for next season, so changes will be made.
Make up for lost time
Over many years now we have averaged close to 25 games per season. Those who follow us regularly know we scheduled our original opener this season in Ireland to see Navy vs. Notre Dame. Our regular season was planned in Philly with Army-Navy As teams this Saturday. Instead, we’ll be tailgating in Cousin Frank’s driveway with his new grill before going in to watch on TV.
As more games got cancelled or openers got delayed, and then decisions were made to play without fans in attendance, we grasped at what we could get and were satisfied we got out to three games, all at venues we hadn’t been to before, something we strive to do. However, this season really knocked us off course well short of where we could have finished this year at about 635 games in all.
We do hope to get some of those losses back with FCS games planned for this spring . We’re planning to keep our eyes and ears pealed. Already looking at spring slates starting in late February through early April. Still, will fans be allowed? Will you need season tickets to be able to attend games? Will vaccines get Covid-19 behind us? Will social-distancing be required? A lot of questions to be answered, but we’re going to get back into action with winter/spring college football. Check us out here.
What we did learn this year is that we’re so used to the travel, the great outdoors, the fun tailgating, and enthusiastic crowds, we just did not enjoy sitting home flipping channels to watch multiple games at the same time. As much as we hate waiting out TV time-outs at the games, changing from commercial to other commercials is even worse! I also have to say that we schedule a lot of good, competitive games more often than not when we plan in the offseason, but this year, there seemed to be more blow-outs televised which mitigated our viewing pleasure. We plan to get back out to see more action and visit some more new venues in the future.
