For more than three-and-a-half hours, Kentucky and South Carolina went back and forth.There were too many momentum swings to count. There were two separate 21-0 runs in the second half. There was a perfectly executed trick play touchdown. The Commonwealth Stadium crowd of 62,135 was into it from start to finish, but it was a long night nonetheless. No moments passed more slowly than those that immediately preceded the biggest play of the game.UK had just pulled into a tie and was looking to prevent a game-winning Gamecock drive in the final minutes. Facing a second and 10 from his own 20, Dylan Thompson dropped back to throw and fired a pass that was deflected at the line of scrimmage.For the next 1.9 seconds, hearts stopped.”I saw it floating up in the air,” Mark Stoops said. “Felt like it was up there for five minutes. I was hoping somebody would run underneath it.”Enter Bud Dupree.”The ball came down and it seemed like it took forever,” Dupree said. “I thought somebody was right behind my waiting to tackle me as soon as I caught it.”Dupree snared the ball at the six-yard line, showing off the short-burst speed that makes him an elite NFL Draft prospect. No one was catching him, not until he got into that end zone for the first pick-six of his football career, high school or college.In spite of the magnitude of the moment – the play would send UK to a 45-38 win and touch off a mad field-rushing scene – Dupree could only think about one thing: Don’t pick up a penalty. He had a celebration in mind for his first-career touchdown, but his better judgment wouldn’t allow him to break it out.”I couldn’t do it,” Dupree said. “Everybody started running at me and I was thinking, ‘What if I get a penalty and they take it back?’ I just wanted to play it smart and make sure we won the game.”Dupree wouldn’t have had much time to get that celebration in anyway. Quickly following him into the end zone were his teammates, who piled on top of the star defensive end/linebacker in celebration.”I think what made me most tired was getting up from everybody being on top of me,” Dupree said. “I lost a lot of energy trying to get up with everybody on top of me. I was tired on the next series just because of that. It’s a great feeling.”That sweet exhaustion would not have been possible had it not been for Mike Douglas, who made the play before the big play.The senior defensive tackle occupied the right guard as Dupree rushed Thompson from the outside. Sitting near the line of scrimmage, Douglas jumped as Thompson threw and reacted in time to swat the ball into the air with his right hand.”I saw the ball leave his hands and I tried to get my hands up in time,” Douglas said. “I’m glad I did.”After Dupree and Douglas combined to give UK the lead, it was another senior who make the game-clinching defensive play. Just a touchdown away from likely sending the game to overtime, South Carolina had a first and 15 at its own 46. Thompson dropped to pass and fired high over the middle into the waiting arms of safety Ashely Lowery, who made UK’s third interception of the game and ninth of the season (fourth nationally). “Those guys, Mike Douglas, Bud Dupree and Ashley Lowery, guys that kind of bought in to what we’re doing here made big plays tonight,” defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot said. “It’s something that was very rewarding.”The night may have ended rewardingly, but UK had more than its share of frustrating moments, especially on defense.South Carolina jumped all over the Cats early, running at will and building a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. UK would stiffen on defense and eventually take a 24-17 in the third quarter on a reverse pass from Patrick Towles to Ryan Timmons out of the Wildcat formation, but the Gamecocks once again asserted themselves.South Carolina scored 21 unanswered to take a 38-24 lead, drawing the ire of Stoops and eliciting a sideline talking-to he said wasn’t fit for his postgame press conference.”Quit looking around for guys to make plays; you make a play,” Stoops said, recalling his message in tamer terms. “That’s where I started challenging them. That’s where I had enough. Quit looking around. Quit looking for a call. Somebody dig in and make a play.”More than one somebody did just that.South Carolina piled up 38 points and 500 yards of total offense, but the Gamecocks were shut out on their final three drives and managed just 34 yards. Mike Davis (183 yards, three touchdowns) was dominant in the ground game and South Carolina had 282 yards rushing as a team, but the Cats got the stops when they were most needed.”I think shows how resilient we are as a team, especially as a defense, after rebounding after we played horrible for pretty much the whole game,” Douglas said.To Douglas, that ability to overcome adversity all comes down to a team chemistry he says is the best he’s seen at UK.”It’s an open floor for communication,” Douglas said. “That’s what really helps because there’s nobody built up, mad because he made a play, mad because he missed it. We get it out on the sideline and then we go back and move on to the next play.”