FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 26, South Carolina 22
Attendance: 82,178
Team Records and Series Notes
· Kentucky is 2-0, 1-0 in the Southeastern Conference. South Carolina is 1-1, 0-1 in the SEC.
· The Gamecocks lead the all-time series, 17-9-1, including an 8-4-1 all-time mark in games played in Columbia.
o UK won its first game in Columbia since a 30-10 win in 1999 vs. South Carolina.
· Kentucky will return to action on Saturday, playing host to Florida at 7:30 p.m. at Commonwealth Stadium. The game will be televised live on the SEC Network and broadcast live on the UK Sports Radio Network.
Team Notes
· UK’s win broke a 22-game losing streak in road games. UK’s last road win was 23-16 at Louisville on Sept. 4, 2010. UK’s previous SEC road win was at Georgia, 34-27, on Nov. 21, 2009.
· UK won its first SEC opener since 2007 vs. Arkansas.
o The Wildcats are 21-58-3 all-time in SEC openers.
· The Wildcats have converted on 18 consecutive red zone opportunities, dating back to the 2014 Mississippi State game.
· Kentucky’s game captains were Josh Forrest, A.J. Stamps, Melvin Lewis, Patrick Towles and Jordan Swindle.
· UK is 8-0 in the Stoops era when leading at halftime.
· UK has a 3-2 record on Sept. 12 in its history.
· UK is 18-22-1 all-time against teams from the state of South Carolina.
· UK is 5-5 when playing on the SEC Network.
· The Wildcats own a 1-0 record in 2015 and a 1-7 record in the Stoops era when wearing its blue jersey/white pants uniform combination.
· Denzil Ware returned a two-point conversion attempt for a TD, marking the first for UK since Eric Kelly returned a PAT for two points at LSU in 1998.
Individual Notes
Sophomore RB Boom Williams rushed for over 100 yards for the third consecutive game.
Williams carried it 14 times for 107 yards.
Williams is the first UK player with 100 yard rushing games in three consecutive since Derrick Locke had four straight 100 yard games in 2010.
Senior LB Khalid Henderson tied his career high with 10 tackles, last done vs. Western Kentucky in 2014.
Sophomore WR Dorian Baker tied for the team lead with five catches for 55 yards.
Junior RB Jojo Kemp rushed for his first touchdown of the year and the eighth of his career.
Kemp had 13 rushes for 78 yards and a TD.
Freshman CB Chris Westry recorded his first career sack and picked off his first career pass.
Westry forced his first career QB hurry and broke up two passes.
Sophomore WR Jeff Badet hauled in a 43-yard pass, leading the club with 62 receiving yards on four catches.
Freshman LB Denzil Ware recorded his first career QB hurry.
Ware picked up a fumble on a USC two-point conversion attempt and ran 98 yards for two points for UK in the fourth quarter.
Sophomore WR Garrett Johnson tied for the team lead with five catches, going for 55 yards.
Junior QB Patrick Towles was 21-for-29 for 192 yards.
Sophomore RB Mikel Horton rushed for his second TD of the year and the fourth of his career.
Senior DE Farrington Huguenin recorded his first QB hurry of the year and the fifth of his career.
Senior CB Cody Quinn broke up his 15th career pass.
Sophomore kicker Austin MacGinnis connected from 29 yards out in the second quarter, his fourth field goal of 2015 and the 24th of his career.
MacGinnis is now 24-for-31 in his career and 3-for-4 in 2015.
Senior LB Josh Forrest totaled seven tackles.
Forrest has broken-up four passes in 2015.
Senior S A.J. Stamps broke up his second pass of the year and the sixth of his career.
Stamps recorded a career-high nine tackles.
Senior DT Melvin Lewis recorded a sack and now has 1.5 in his career.
Senior P Landon Foster, senior LB Khalid Henderson and senior DE Farrington Huguenin played in their team-leading 38th career games.
Senior OT Zach West made his team-leading 32nd career start.
Junior C Jon Toth started his club-leading 25th consecutive game.
Senior DT Cory “C.J.” Johnson – a native of Columbia, S.C. – made his first career start.
