Three Plays: Takeaways and timely touchdowns

Kentucky Wildcats tight end Justin Rigg (83) headed upfield after a catch as Kentucky played South Carolina on December 5, 2020. Photo by Mark Cornelison

It’s fun to beat South Carolina and Kentucky is starting to make that a common occurrence. For the sixth time since Mark Stoops arrived, the Wildcats have beaten the Gamecocks and this one was their biggest margin of victory. Behind 291 rushing yards and a plus-four turnover margin, the UK was easily able to handle the short-handed Carolina on a blustery night at The Kroge.

The season is over and Kentucky finished the year at 4-6 and it’s hard to leave this season not a little disappointed. However, it was important for this program to find some momentum to wrap the year up with and they did that last night against South Carolina. Like we do every week, here were the plays that made the difference.

1.) Forced Takeaway

After a very nice drive to start the game, South Carolina had to settle for a field goal just outside of the red zone and Parker White’s attempt went wide. Kentucky responded with a quality drive going 75 yards in 12 plays, but had to settle for three points following a botched goal-to-go possession. After trading punches, Kentucky landed the first knockout blow.

On the jet sweep pass, Kentucky snuffs it out and has a play set for no gain. However, Jordan Wright makes a play on the football and wrestles it away from Zaquandre White for the first takeaway of the game. It would be the first of three recovered by UK in the game that would allow UK to steal multiple possessions. The Wildcats would take a touchdown-plus lead two snaps later and would never relinquish it for the rest of the night.

Forcing fumbles has been an issue for this defense all season, but we’ve seen that change in the last two games. We’ve heard defensive coordinator Brad White talk about getting takeaways that directly benefit the offense and that was what this was to start the game in the first quarter.

2.) Tight End Pass Game

Following taking a 10-0 lead, South Carolina started their next possession at the UK 40 thanks to an unsportsmanlike penalty and a long kickoff return. They only got six snaps off, but they were able to cut the lead to one possession with a field goal. Carolina was still very much in the game, but Kentucky’s offense landed another haymaker.

After hitting Justin Rigg on a 36-yd play-action shot to start the drive, Wilson found his redshirt senior tight end for a 21-yard gain to setup a first-and-goal on the out-and-up. UK went with some tempo on the next snap where A.J. Rose would stroll in for an 8-yard score. After South Carolina seemingly climbed back in the game, UK responded with a 81-yard scoring drive over five plays that produced a 100% success rate on every snap.

The Gamecocks never got within fewer than two possessions for the rest of the night and UK would go on to win the Middle Eight by a count of 10-0 capped off by a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that bled nearly eight minutes to claim a commanding 31-point lead out of half. The run all started with the explosive touchdown drive where UK got some chunk plays from its tight end.

3.) Rodriguez Ices It

After a very strong start to begin the game, we strangely did not see redshirt sophomore Chris Rodriguez Jr. for three consecutive second half possessions. UK was unable to produce points on any drive and a couple short yardage attempts came up unsuccessful. Once South Carolina cut the lead to 16 points with five minutes and change remaining, it did not take long for us to see No. 24.

Rodriguez rumbled 79 yards untouched down the sideline to hammer the door shut on South Carolina in the first play of the drive. The Atlanta area native and former low three-star recruit finished the season with 701 rushing yards and averaged a robust 6.87 yards per carry on top of nine touchdowns. He was this offense’s best player all season and he put together another impressive performance to close out the season. When they needed a big play, UK went to their inside zone staple and it ended the game.

It was a tough season in Lexington for a variety of reasons. This Kentucky football team had to deal with a lot of adversity and they just could not find a way to win a close one with one possession games late in the fourth quarter turning into losses against Auburn, Ole Miss and Missouri. The offense had a bunch of issues and the defense played bend-but-don’t-break football, but this group was able to win three SEC games by 20-plus points while the Vandy win was a 17-point lead with five minutes and change remaining in the game.

We all wanted more this season, but it just wasn’t in the cards. With many offensive changes expected to occur and an important signing day looming, it was important for the program to end the season with some positive momentum. They accomplished just that on senior day against South Carolina with a big win against an important divisional foe. This is a program that is still in very good shape and it is certainly sounding like playing in a bowl game will happen. There is still plenty to play for and UK ended a tough year in the right way.