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by WILL FOLKS
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With the 2025 season hanging in the balance, South Carolina once again relied on non-offensive touchdowns to spearhead its scoring – as the Gamecocks’ big play defense provided back-to-back second quarter scores to blow a close game against Kentucky wide open.
All-American edge rusher Dylan Stewart got things started for South Carolina early in the second frame, delivering a punishing blow to Wildcat quarterback Cutter Boley that caused the redshirt freshman to fumble. When Kentucky left tackle Shiyazh Pete failed to corral the loose football, redshirt senior edge rusher Jatius Greer scooped it up and lumbered 41 yards for a score – and the Gamecocks’ first lead of the night.
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SCOOP 'N SCORE pic.twitter.com/Brt3HW8ODK
— South Carolina Football (@GamecockFB) September 28, 2025
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Two plays later, coordinator Clayton White‘s unit struck again. After Boley sailed a second down pass off of the fingertips of wide receiver Kendrick Law, Gamecock defensive back Gerald Kilgore corralled the deflection and darted 45 yards down the east sideline to pay dirt.
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KILGORE WITH THE PICK SIX pic.twitter.com/h6uqMLSeHZ
— South Carolina Football (@GamecockFB) September 28, 2025
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Just like that, a pitched battle became a blowout…
Stewart had a sack and two tackles for loss against the Wildcats, while fellow edge rusher Bryan Thomas Jr. added a pair of sacks.
South Carolina’s offense continued to struggle, although its much-maligned ground game – which was held to negative yardage in last week’s loss to Missouri – put up a season-high 178 yards and three touchdowns. Nearly half of that came courtesy of Sellers, who had 81 yards rushing on 14 carries to go with his 154 yards through the air.
Sellers’ top target was redshirt sophomore wideout Vandrevious Jacobs – who caught five passes for 108 yards against the Wildcats. Jacobs is up to 323 yards receiving on the season after back-to-back 100-yard games.
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Despite its season-best performance on the ground, South Carolina still ranks No. 124 nationally running the football – averaging a measly 99.8 yards per game. The Gamecocks are marginally better (No. 121) in total offense – averaging 308.6 yards per game – but the heat is squarely on first-year coordinator Mike Shula and embattled ground game coordinator Shawn Elliott to turn things around in the second half of the season.
That won’t be easy given the gauntlet head coach Shane Beamer‘s squad faces following its open date next week. The Gamecocks next five opponents are all ranked in the top fifteen – No. 13 LSU (October 11 in Baton Rouge), No. 5/8 Oklahoma (at home on October 18), No. 10/11 Alabama (at home on October 25), No. 4 Ole Miss (in Oxford on November 1) and No. 5/6 Texas A&M (in College Station on November 15).
That’s as tough a row to hoe as you will see in college football… and how South Carolina competes against the nation’s elite programs will determine whether it can reemerge as a College Football Playoff (CFP) contender.
Worth noting? Beamer is just 6-16 (.272) against ranked opponents since becoming South Carolina’s coach ahead of the 2021 season – including an 0-1 mark so far this season.
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Saturday’s victory was not without controversy. After Wildcat senior tailback Seth McGowan opened the scoring with a 20-yard scamper, he chunked the ball into the stands – striking the grandfather of South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers on the shoulder. Much to the frustration of the Gamecock faithful, no penalty was called on the play.
Thankfully, Sellers grandfather was uninjured.
“They showed it on the jumbotron and I was like, ‘oh, yo, that’s my granddaddy,'” Sellers said after the game.
To his credit, McGowan issued a heartfelt apology.
“Today during our game versus South Carolina, I threw a ball after a touchdown meaning to throw it at the barrier in front of the stands and during a high energy moment the ball struck a fan,” he wrote on X. “What I did was absolutely unacceptable and not at all reflective of myself nor this program. If anyone can get me in contact with the fan or his family I would like to formally apologize to them and make it up any way possible. Also I would like to apologize to the entire fans of South Carolina Football and their program.”
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Gamecock fans were buoyed before kickoff when program legend Connor Shaw – the winningest quarterback in South Carolina history – led the stadium in a pre-game cheer. Shaw experienced a severe health scare earlier this month when he was hospitalized after collapsing on the sidelines of his son’s youth football game.
Shaw looked no worse for the wear in leading a sellout crowd at Wlliams-Brice stadium in a rousing rendition of the traditional “Gamecocks” chant. Hopefully he is well on the way to a full recovery.
South Carolina’s win was its fourth in a row against the Wildcats, giving the Gamecocks a 22-14-1 series edge. As our Erin Parrott noted in her preview of this week’s game, South Carolina fans should get used to seeing Kentucky – as the Wildcats were named one of the Gamecocks’ three permanent conference opponents last week.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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