Final
Spurrier continues mastery of Kentucky as South Carolina rolls
Oct 5, 2007 - 5:28 AM COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Ticker) -- Some things have changed this season in college football. Other things, like Steve Spurrier beating Kentucky, remain the same.Defensive end Eric Norwood tied an NCAA record by returning a pair of fumbles for touchdowns and Chris Smelley threw two touchdown passes as No. 11 South Carolina handed the eighth-ranked Wildcats their first loss of the season, 38-23, on Thursday night.
South Carolina (5-1, 3-1 East) has now won eight in a row over Kentucky, but that is well short of Spurrier's streak. "The ol' ballcoach" improved to 15-0 against Kentucky, the last three wins coming with South Carolina.
Kentucky (5-1, 1-1 SEC East) was one of the early surprises of the season. Led by quarterback Andre' Woodson, the Wildcats entered Thursday as the only undefeated team in the rugged SEC East. But they left the contest as they always do when they meet Spurrier - with a loss.
Norwood became the fourth NCAA player to score twice on fumble recoveries and opened the scoring just under four minutes in. Woodson was sacked by Jonathan Williams and coughed up the ball. Norwood pounced on it and rolled into the end zone to make it 7-0.
"I feel like I am becoming a leader. We have a lot of guys that are stepping up. Emanuel Cook leads by his example."
"It was about being in the right place at the right time. It was about covering the right guy. I came out and made the play."
South Carolina led 17-10 at the half and extended the lead to two touchdowns after another miscue by Woodson early in the third quarter.
Under pressure and about to be sacked, Woodson tried to dump the ball off in the flat but threw behind his intended receiver. Norwood scooped up the loose ball, ruled a lateral, and raced 53 yards for a TD with 13:17 left in the third to make it 24-10.
"I just told Eric Norwood I think that's the first defensive player I had score two touchdowns. That was some game he had," Spurrier said. "I think he had an All-American type game. He is an active player that really makes things happen. He loves to play full speed."
The Wildcats pulled within 31-23 with 7:03 to play in the fourth, but Smelley put the finishing touches on the win on the Gamecocks' next possession when he threw a 27-yard TD pass to Cory Boyd with 3:38 remaining.
"The differences in the game are turnovers and the penalties," Kentucky coach Rich Brooks said. "We dug ourselves some long yard situations. South Carolina defense forced us into some and some were uncharacteristic of how we play."
Smelley completed 17-of-30 passes for 256 yards.
"I am not surprised we won. We had some real confidence coming into the game," Smelley said. "We knew if we played well, played hard and never gave up, we could win. I feel really good. I think we are controlling our own destiny. We put so much into the offseason and to not play well tonight would be a disappointment. We knew we could do it."
Woodson was 23-of-40 for 226 yards. He threw two TD passes but was sacked four times and intercepted once. Woodson (7,187 yards) also joined Jared Lorenzen and Tim Couch as the only quarterbacks in Kentucky history to throw for 7,000 yards in a career.
"We definitely made a lot of mistakes, especially me personally," Woodson said. "It's something we haven't been doing all year. Hopefully right now we can correct that. I was pretty disappointed, because we definitely thought we could compete in this game."
- NCAAF FINAL
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
KENTUCKY (8) 3 7 3 10 23
SOUTH CAROLINA (11) 10 7 7 14 38 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: SOUTH CAROLINA - TD, ERIC NORWOOD 10 YD FUMBLE
RETURN (RYAN SUCCOP KICK),
4:07. SOUTH CAROLINA 7-0
KENTUCKY - FG, LONES SEIBER 27 YD, 9:58.
SOUTH CAROLINA 7-3
SOUTH CAROLINA - FG, RYAN SUCCOP 27 YD, 1
Oct 4 11:18 PM
TD SOUTH CAROLINA CORY BOYD 27 YD PASS FROM CHRIS SMELLEY (RYAN SUCCOP KICK)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 11:08 PM
TD SOUTH CAROLINA CORY BOYD 27 YD PASS FROM CHRIS SMELLEY (RYAN SUCCOP KICK)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 11:08 PM
TD SOUTH CAROLINA CORY BOYD 27 YD PASS FROM CHRIS SMELLEY (RYAN SUCCOP KICK)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 11:08 PM- NCAAF
TD SOUTH CAROLINA
CORY BOYD 27 YD PASS FROM CHRIS SMELLEY
(RYAN SUCCOP KICK)
KENTUCKY (8) 23
SOUTH CAROLINA (11) 38 3:28 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 11:08 PM - 107
rootsRUWTbot Took away 34 roots (Ranked Teams (8 v 11), Upset)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 11:08 PM - 141
rootsRUWTbot Added 34 roots (Ranked Teams (8 v 11), Upset, Close Finish)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 11:06 PM
TD KENTUCKY STEVE JOHNSON 6 YD PASS FROM ANDRE' WOODSON (LONES SEIBER KICK)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 10:58 PM
TD KENTUCKY STEVE JOHNSON 6 YD PASS FROM ANDRE' WOODSON (LONES SEIBER KICK)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 10:58 PM
TD KENTUCKY STEVE JOHNSON 6 YD PASS FROM ANDRE' WOODSON (LONES SEIBER KICK)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 10:58 PM- NCAAF
TD KENTUCKY
STEVE JOHNSON 6 YD PASS FROM ANDRE' WOODSON
(LONES SEIBER KICK)
KENTUCKY (8) 23
SOUTH CAROLINA (11) 31 6:59 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 10:58 PM
TD SOUTH CAROLINA PATRICK DIMARCO 7 YD PASS FROM CHRIS SMELLEY (RYAN SUCCOP KICK)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 10:44 PM
TD SOUTH CAROLINA PATRICK DIMARCO 7 YD PASS FROM CHRIS SMELLEY (RYAN SUCCOP KICK)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 10:44 PM
TD SOUTH CAROLINA PATRICK DIMARCO 7 YD PASS FROM CHRIS SMELLEY (RYAN SUCCOP KICK)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 10:44 PM- NCAAF
TD SOUTH CAROLINA
PATRICK DIMARCO 7 YD PASS FROM CHRIS SMELLEY
(RYAN SUCCOP KICK)
KENTUCKY (8) 16
SOUTH CAROLINA (11) 31 11:01 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 10:44 PM - NCAAF
FG KENTUCKY
LONES SEIBER 23 YD
KENTUCKY (8) 16
SOUTH CAROLINA (11) 24 14:56 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 10:30 PM - NCAAF END, 3RD QTR
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
KENTUCKY (8) 3 7 3 13
SOUTH CAROLINA (11) 10 7 7 24 END, 3RD QTR
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: SOUTH CAROLINA - TD, ERIC NORWOOD 10 YD FUMBLE
RETURN (RYAN SUCCOP KICK),
4:07. SOUTH CAROLINA 7-0
KENTUCKY - FG, LONES SEIBER 27 YD, 9:58.
SOUTH CAROLINA 7-3
SOUTH CAROLINA - FG, RYAN
Oct 4 10:26 PM - NCAAF
FG KENTUCKY
LONES SEIBER 41 YD
KENTUCKY (8) 13
SOUTH CAROLINA (11) 24 10:49 LEFT, 3RD QTR
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 9:57 PM
TD SOUTH CAROLINA ERIC NORWOOD 53 YD FUMBLE RETURN (RYAN SUCCOP KICK)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 9:49 PM
TD SOUTH CAROLINA ERIC NORWOOD 53 YD FUMBLE RETURN (RYAN SUCCOP KICK)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 9:49 PM- NCAAF
TD SOUTH CAROLINA
ERIC NORWOOD 53 YD FUMBLE RETURN
(RYAN SUCCOP KICK)
KENTUCKY (8) 10
SOUTH CAROLINA (11) 24 13:03 LEFT, 3RD QTR
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 9:49 PM - NCAAF HALFTIME
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
KENTUCKY (8) 3 7 10
SOUTH CAROLINA (11) 10 7 17 HALFTIME
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: SOUTH CAROLINA - TD, ERIC NORWOOD 10 YD FUMBLE
RETURN (RYAN SUCCOP KICK),
4:07. SOUTH CAROLINA 7-0
KENTUCKY - FG, LONES SEIBER 27 YD, 9:58.
SOUTH CAROLINA 7-3
SOUTH CAROLINA - FG, RYAN SUCCOP
Oct 4 9:21 PM
TD SOUTH CAROLINA MIKE DAVIS 3 YD RUN (RYAN SUCCOP KICK)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 9:18 PM
TD SOUTH CAROLINA MIKE DAVIS 3 YD RUN (RYAN SUCCOP KICK)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 9:18 PM- NCAAF
TD SOUTH CAROLINA
MIKE DAVIS 3 YD RUN
(RYAN SUCCOP KICK)
KENTUCKY (8) 10
SOUTH CAROLINA (11) 17 0:51 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 9:18 PM
TD KENTUCKY JACOB TAMME 18 YD PASS FROM ANDRE' WOODSON (TIM MASTHAY KICK)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 8:45 PM
TD KENTUCKY JACOB TAMME 18 YD PASS FROM ANDRE' WOODSON (TIM MASTHAY KICK)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 8:45 PM
TD KENTUCKY JACOB TAMME 18 YD PASS FROM ANDRE' WOODSON (TIM MASTHAY KICK)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 8:45 PM- NCAAF
TD KENTUCKY
JACOB TAMME 18 YD PASS FROM ANDRE' WOODSON
(TIM MASTHAY KICK)
KENTUCKY (8) 10
SOUTH CAROLINA (11) 10 12:13 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 8:45 PM - NCAAF END, 1ST QTR
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
KENTUCKY (8) 3 3
SOUTH CAROLINA (11) 10 10 END, 1ST QTR
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: SOUTH CAROLINA - TD, ERIC NORWOOD 10 YD FUMBLE
RETURN (RYAN SUCCOP KICK),
4:07. SOUTH CAROLINA 7-0
KENTUCKY - FG, LONES SEIBER 27 YD, 9:58.
SOUTH CAROLINA 7-3
SOUTH CAROLINA - FG, RYAN
Oct 4 8:35 PM - NCAAF
FG SOUTH CAROLINA
RYAN SUCCOP 27 YD
KENTUCKY (8) 3
SOUTH CAROLINA (11) 10 0:57 LEFT, 1ST QTR
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 8:31 PM - NCAAF
FG KENTUCKY
LONES SEIBER 27 YD
KENTUCKY (8) 3
SOUTH CAROLINA (11) 7 5:02 LEFT, 1ST QTR
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 8:16 PM
TD SOUTH CAROLINA ERIC NORWOOD 10 YD FUMBLE RETURN (RYAN SUCCOP KICK)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 8:01 PM
TD SOUTH CAROLINA ERIC NORWOOD 10 YD FUMBLE RETURN (RYAN SUCCOP KICK)
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 8:01 PM- NCAAF
TD SOUTH CAROLINA
ERIC NORWOOD 10 YD FUMBLE RETURN
(RYAN SUCCOP KICK)
KENTUCKY (8) 0
SOUTH CAROLINA (11) 7 10:53 LEFT, 1ST QTR
Kentucky(8) vs. South Carolina(11)Oct 4 8:01 PM - 92
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