Kentucky Football Three Keys: South Carolina

Kentucky football faces South Carolina on Saturday in Columbia, SC. Here are your three keys to a Kentucky win over South Carolina.

Key 1 – Take Carolina Seriously

This may seem like an odd key but South Carolina sits at 1-3 (0-2 SEC). If you think Kentucky’s injury situation is bad, just look at the Gamecocks injury list. They have 13 players banged up and either missing for Saturday’s game or are questionable to play. The Gamecocks, like Kentucky, have lost their starting quarterback. All those troubles could mean that the Wildcats think this will be a fairly easy win. Kentucky needs to look at this game as if it were any other SEC contest and take the game seriously.

Key 2 – Be Road Warriors

South Carolina has one of the best home-field advantages in the SEC. The stadium is almost always packed and the fans are all into the game. Not to mention that irritating rooster crow that sounds every minute or two. The Kentucky players should look at the road trip as a bonding experience. It’s the Cats versus the world in this game. The Wildcats can be road warriors and come home to Lexington with a bloodied Gamecock scalp.

Key 3 – Get after Hilinski

Against Kentucky, Gamecock true freshman quarterback Ryan Hilinski will be making just the fourth start of his career and third start versus an FBS opponent. However, Hillinski appears to be pretty darn good. The youngster completed 36-of-57 passes for 324 yards with two
touchdowns against Alabama. This feat earned him SEC Freshman of the Week accolades. If the physical Wildcat defense can get after Hilinski early, with maybe a hard sack or tackle for loss, the Cats can get in his young head and maybe cause him to be less effective.

Saturday‘s game kicks off at 6:30 PM CT (7:30 PM ET). Watch on the SEC Network.

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