KENTUCKY POSTGAME NOTES
South Carolina at Kentucky
Commonwealth Stadium – Lexington, Ky.
Sept. 24, 2016
FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 17, South Carolina 10
Team Records and Series Notes
- Kentucky is 2-2, 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference. South Carolina is 2-2 overall and 1-2 in the SEC.
- South Carolina leads the all-time series in games played, 17-10-1, including a 9-6 mark in games played in Lexington.
- The Wildcats have defeated South Carolina three straight years, marking the first time the Wildcats have defeated an SEC foe three straight years since taking down Vanderbilt four straight years from 2004 to 2007.
- Kentucky will return to action Sat. Oct. 1, playing at No. 1/1 Alabama at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN and broadcast on the UK Sports Radio Network.
Kentucky Team Notes
- UK’s game captains were senior center Jon Toth, junior wide receiver Jeff Badet, junior linebacker Courtney Love and senior defensive lineman Courtney Miggins.
- The Kentucky defense held South Carolina to just 10 points in the game, which is a season best for the Wildcats.
o South Carolina’s 10 points marked its lowest scoring output of the season.
o It marked the first time that Kentucky has held an opponent to 10 points or less since limiting Vanderbilt to seven points in a 17-7 win in 2014 in Commonwealth Stadium.
o The Gamecocks had seven drives that went for less than 20 yards in the game.
o The Wildcats held South Carolina to only two pass plays of 20+ yards and no rushing play longer than 12 yards.
- Kentucky had a season-high four sacks.
o Coming into Saturday’s game, Kentucky had four sacks in three games played.
o The four sacks is the most against an SEC opponent since Nov. 1, 2008 against Mississippi State when UK also had four sacks.
- The Kentucky defense limited South Carolina to just 16 first downs in the game.
o The last time Kentucky limited an SEC opponent to 16 first downs or less was 13 last season at Vanderbilt.
- South Carolina had only 177 passing yards in the game, which is its lowest passing total of the season.
o The 177 passing yards allowed is the lowest of the season for Kentucky.
o The Gamecocks had 15 pass completions in the game, which was a season low.
- Kentucky’s third-down defense was superb in the game, limiting the Gamecocks to 3-of-13 in third-down conversions, which was a season-low third-down conversions for the Gamecocks.
- Kentucky’s four-point halftime deficit was its largest halftime deficit against an SEC opponent in a game it eventually won since Oct. 6, 2010 against South Carolina when UK trailed by 18 at halftime.
- Kentucky won Saturday’s game with a -2 turnover margin. That was its worst turnover margin in a win against an SEC opponent since Nov. 14, 1998 against Vanderbilt when UK had a -2 turnover margin as well.
Kentucky Player Notes
- Junior quarterback Stephen Johnson completed 11-of-19 passes for 135 yards in the game.
o This was Johnson’s first start at UK.
o The junior rushed 13 times for 41 yards, however he lost 35 yards due to sacks, rushing for a net of six yards.
- Senior wide receiver Ryan Timmons caught two passes in the game for 30 yards, including a season-long grab of 18 yards.
o Timmons now has 1,060 career receiving yards, passing Derek Homer for 24th on UK’s career receiving yardage list.
o Timmons needs 51 more receiving yards to tie Javess Blue for 23rd all-time on that list.
- Junior wide receiver Garrett Johnson made four catches for 38 yards in the game.
o Johnson has three or more receptions in three of Kentucky’s four games this season.
o Johnson now has 1,177 career receiving yards, ranking 22nd on UK’s career receiving yardage list.
o Johnson needs 23 more receiving yards to tie Steve Johnson for 21st all-time.
- Junior running back Stanley “Boom” Williams rushed 15 times for 123 yards and one touchdown.
o The 100-yard rushing game was the second of the season for Williams and the ninth of his career.
o Williams now has 1,805 career rushing yards, moving past six Wildcats tonight to rank eighth all-time at Kentucky.
o Williams needs 300 more rushing yards to tie Artose Pinner for seventh all-time at Kentucky.
o On the season, Williams has rushed a team-high 58 times for 464 yards and is averaging 8.0 yards per carry.
o Williams is the fifth player in school history to reach 1,700 career rushing yards prior to his senior season. The last player to accomplish that feat was Derrick Locke in 2009.
o Williams is the fourth player in school history to have two career 100-yard rushing games against South Carolina. Williams is the first to accomplish that feat since Rafael Little.
o Williams had the fourth-most rushing yards by a UK player against South Carolina in school history. It was the most since Jojo Kemp had 131 against USC in 2014.
o Williams had the eighth most rushing yards by a UK player in an SEC home opener in school history. It is the most rushing yards in an SEC home opener since Alfred Rawls against Alabama in 1988, who had 132.
o Williams has 304 rushing yards in the last two games combined, which is the most by a UK player in a two-game span since Rafael Little had 322 combined against Auburn and Vanderbilt in 2005.
- Junior kicker Austin MacGinnis had five points in the game, including hitting a 30-yard field goal in the first half.
o MacGinnis now has 184 career points and continues to rank seventh all-time on UK’s career scoring list.
o MacGinnis needs eight more points to tie Craig Yeast for sixth all-time at Kentucky.
- True freshman running back Benny Snell rushed a game-high 16 times for 73 yards and one touchdown.
o Snell’s touchdown came from the Wildcat formation, rushing in for a one-yard, game-winning score in the fourth quarter.
o On the season, Snell has rushed 33 times for 209 yards and is averaging 6.3 yards per carry.
o Snell has 209 rushing yards in the last two games combined, which is the most by a true freshman since Chad Scott had 211 against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt in 2000.
- Junior wide receiver Jeff Badet had two receptions for 39 yards in the game.
o Badet is averaging 16.2 yards per reception in his career and 30.6 yards per reception this season.
- Sophomore cornerback Derrick Baity tied a season-high with five tackles in the game, adding two pass breakups and one quarterback hurry.
o Baity’s two pass breakups tied a career best as he also had two pass breakups last season against Louisville.
- Sophomore linebacker Jordan Jones led Kentucky in tackles with eight in the game, adding 0.5 tackles for loss and one pass breakup.
o Jones leads Kentucky this season with 43 tackles.
- Sophomore defensive end/linebacker Josh Allen had seven tackles in the game, adding a sack and a tackle for loss.
o Allen has recorded seven or more tackles in two games this season, while he has a tackle for loss in three of Kentucky’s four games played.
- Sophomore defensive end/linebacker Denzil Ware had five tackles, two sacks and two tackles for loss in the game.
o Ware had the most sacks by a UK player against an SEC opponent since Ridge Wilson against South Carolina in 2011.
