Willie Rodriguez celebrates with UK fans after catching the winning two-point conversion pass at South Carolina. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky coach Will Stein didn’t hesitate when he went for a two-point conversion in overtime on Saturday at William Brice Stadium.
Kenny Minchey’s two-point conversion completion to Willie Rodriguez completed the largest road SEC comeback in school history as the No. 24 Wildcats shocked South Carolina 35-34 in overtime. Kentucky erased a 17-point to end a four-game losing streak to the Gamecocks.
“That was a wild one,” Stein said on his postgame radio show. “Hats off to South Carolina. I thought they played super hard. … We battled and it wasn’t pretty. Good teams find a way to win, and that’s what it was tonight. It was a really good football team here with us in Kentucky and we found a way to win on the road in the SEC.”
The Wildcats (4-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) left Columbia dancing in a Sandstorm and handed South Carolina its eighth consecutive SEC loss since a 35-13 win over the Wildcats last season.
The Kentucky coach, whose team has won its first two road games, never wavered even after falling behind 17-0 after giving up 14 points in the first quarter.
“We said this whole week, (we’re) a band of brothers,” Stein said. “A band of brothers came to Columbia, South Carolina, got a win in a really tough environment vs. an excellent coach.”
Kentucky had to overcome South Carolina quarterback Lanorris Sellers, who accounted for 373 of the Gamecocks’ 458 total yards of offense. Sellers threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 147 yards. He had a 74-yard run that set up a crucial touchdown in the fourth quarter.
After the Wildcats scored a touchdown on Minchey’s strike to Henry Boyer on their first overtime possession to pull within 34-33, Stein went for two instead of the tying extra point. He wanted to keep Sellers off the field, and it paid off, giving Kentucky an overtime win for the first time since edging Eastern Kentucky in 2015.
“We decided right at the beginning of overtime (to go for two), the momentum kind of swung back to them after regulation,” Stein said. “I felt like if we were able to go down there and score, our best chance to leave this place with a win was to go for two and go for the win.
“(It was) great execution by our guys, great protection check by Kenny to get him protected. To step up in the pocket, deliver it, backline hairline-type throw, really with the toe tap and the rest is history.”
Minchey threw for 272 yards and three touchdowns as the Wildcats racked up 394 yards of offense, with 374 of those yards coming in the final three quarters. Kenny Darby had 12 catches for 96 yards and a touchdown, while Nic Anderson added 80 yards on five receptions.
Stein wasn’t surprised by South Carolina’s showing coming off a 49-18 loss to Alabama last week.
Kentucky South Carolina Football
“That’s a good football team. I don’t care what anybody says,” he said. “They were battling Alabama, and then Alabama did what they did to us.”
The win was the second against an SEC foe on the road. The Wildcats defeated Texas A&M 31-21 on Sept. 19 at College Station and brace for a contest against LSU at home Saturday night.
7 Responses
So glad to get this win in a crucial game!
Happy for all of BBN.
What's different about this team. No quit and a lot of grit. They have a lot of things to improve on like showing up for the1st half but they didn't quit.
What a win! This team is still vulnerable. They haven't completely bought in on Stein's confidence and it showed in the first half. They didn't quit and got the win though. I hope they don't think they can keep having slow starts and big finishes (rat poison). They are not going to sneak up on anyone else, especially LSU. The Tigers had a laugher with McNeese State but Kiffen has fallen victim to UK before, so he will have his team focused. I hope Stein pulls out all of the stops and tells his team that they have nothing to lose. Go out and have fun and not worry about the score. That could be our edge on Saturday. Go CATS!!!
If we can get through the season without losing Minchey, Darby or Anderson we have a chance albeit small against the rest of the top ten we play – lose just one and we are ######.
Absolutely love Stein’s energy and style of play. Great game and a necessary road win. He is a balm for the UK football fan’s soul after the last several seasons of disappointment. Going for the 2 pt conversion without hesitation in OT sealed it for me.
You are so very correct. I was thinking after disastrous 1st qtr that we needed to see more coaching from Stein and not just cheerleading, and he delivered big time. He obviously didn't have them prepared to start, but it was a great halftime adjustment. Wish we had done that against Bama. Stein Time is building and am hopefully some of our recruit targets are getting closer to jumping onboard. How can you not like Stein's authentic enthusiasm for the job he has?
That’s very true! Not excusing the slow start by any means, but halftime adjustments were made, and more importantly, we didn’t let the slow start have us playing scared. They just went to work. Dare I say I wish we could take another crack at Bama? Hopefully the recruits like what they are seeing so far!