Two of the surprise teams in the SEC, if not the country, take the field in Columbia, S.C., tonight on national television as No. 8 Kentucky (5-1, 1-0 SEC) takes on No. 11 South Carolina (4-1, 2-1). UK is at its highest ranking since 1977 but is a 3.5-point underdog for tonight's game on WagerWeb.com.
Under Coach Rich Brooks, Kentucky is off to its best start since 1984 and has won 10 of its last 11 games dating to last season. The Wildcats already have beaten once-ranked Louisville and Arkansas, and a win tonight would make them 6-0 for first time since 1950. This game also begins a make-or-break stretch for the Wildcats, with LSU and Florida following on the schedule.
South Carolina's only loss came to now top-ranked LSU, and Coach Steve Spurrier, a noted offensive mind, is surprisingly doing it with defense this season. Opponents are scoring only 15.6 ppg against the Gamecocks and only averaging 106.4 yards per game through the air, No. 1 in the nation. Opposing QBs are completing less than 50 percent of their passes and have thrown three times as many interceptions as touchdown passes.
However, the Gamecocks have yet to see a player like Kentucky QB Andre Woodson, who may be the Heisman Trophy favorite. Woodson has completed 67.1 percent of his passes for 1,309 yards and 16 touchdowns with one interception.
"For me, honestly, I really don't care about winning the Heisman at all," Woodson said. "I'm just very concerned about us trying to win games. That means so much more to me."
Last week, Woodson had his NCAA record streak of 325 attempts without an interception stopped against Florida Atlantic, but he threw a career-best five TD passes in Kentucky's 45-17 victory. The Wildcats lead the SEC in scoring at more than 46 points a game.Spurrier compares Woodson to current Bengals QB Carson Palmer, who won the Heisman Trophy at Southern Cal.
"He's a beautiful passer," Spurrier said of Woodson. "He stands good and tall, knees just slightly flexed. He throws a nice, overhand ball."
South Carolina's offense, meanwhile, is led by freshman QB Chris Smelley, who replaced fifth-year senior Blake Mitchell after the loss to LSU. Smelley answered with 279 yards and two TD passes to receiver Kenny McKinley in the Gamecocks' 38-21 win over Mississippi State last Saturday.
"We hit some balls downfield a little bit more than in the past," Smelley said. "So that looked pretty good."
South Carolina beat Kentucky 24-17 last year, and hasn't lost to UK since 1999, winning the past seven games. Spurrier, in fact, has never lost to Kentucky, going 14-0 in his career at Florida and South Carolina.
"Yeah, we used to have a lot better teams than Kentucky. Now we're very close," Spurrier said. "It's two evenly matched teams."
So with those streaks and a rare national TV audience, you can bet the Wildcats will be jacked up tonight.
"With a couple of wins against some great teams, the sky's the limit for us," receiver Keenan Burton said. "It shows we're not the same Kentucky team."
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