No. 24 Kentucky left Columbia with a win that had a little bit of everything: a furious rally, a bold call in overtime and a long-awaited breakthrough against South Carolina.
The Wildcats erased a 17-0 deficit and beat the Gamecocks 35-34 in overtime after Kenny Minchey hit Henry Boyer for a 6-yard touchdown to make it 34-33. Then Kentucky went straight for the win, and Minchey found a wide-open Willie Rodriguez in the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion that finished it off.
That comeback stands as Kentucky’s biggest since the Cats rallied from 28-10 down against South Carolina in 2010 to win 31-28.
The result also flipped the script on Shane Beamer. South Carolina had won four straight in the series from 2022 through 2025, a stretch that helped shape the end of the Mark Stoops coaching era. This time, new UK coach Will Stein and the Wildcats got the upper hand.
Kentucky improved to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the SEC, while South Carolina dropped to 2-3 and 0-3 in conference play. The win was Kentucky’s first in the series since a 16-10 victory in 2021, though that game was later vacated by the NCAA because of rules violations in the UK program.
The loss only deepened the pressure on Beamer and the Gamecocks. South Carolina has now dropped 10 of its past 11 games against SEC opponents, with the lone win coming in last season’s 35-13 rout of Kentucky.
And the schedule ahead is brutal: at No. 8 Florida, vs.
No. 17 Tennessee, at Oklahoma, vs.
Texas A&M, at Arkansas, vs. No.
2 Georgia and at Clemson.
Kentucky also finally got some answers against South Carolina defensive coordinator Clayton White. Since White arrived at South Carolina from Western Kentucky in 2021, his defenses had consistently bottled up the Wildcats.
Before Saturday, Kentucky had never scored more than 16 points or more than two touchdowns against a White-coached South Carolina defense, and had been held under 300 yards in total offense in the previous four meetings. The Wildcats had also turned the ball over 14 times in those games while scoring just six touchdowns.
This time was different. Kentucky put up four touchdowns and two field goals and did not commit a turnover.
Even so, one problem refused to go away. Kentucky entered the game last in the SEC in third-down conversion rate on offense and third-down defense, and those numbers didn’t get much better in Columbia. The Wildcats were just 4 of 14 on third down, and South Carolina converted 8 of 16 tries.
There was also a familiar face on the other side. Two former Kentucky players suited up for South Carolina’s defense. Defensive tackle Tomiwa Durojaiye finished with three tackles, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry, while former UK nickelback Quay’Sheed Scott had four tackles and a tackle for loss.
Stein’s night also carried some historical weight. Since the Southeastern Conference began in 1933, he became the first Kentucky coach to win his first two SEC road games at the school.
Two weeks earlier, he had guided Kentucky to a 31-21 road upset of then-No. 9 Texas A&M.
Among the 17 men who have coached Kentucky since the SEC began, Stein and Fran Curci are the only ones to win one of their first two SEC road games. Curci went 1-1 in 1973, while Charlie Bradshaw went 0-1-1 in his first two SEC road games in 1962. Every other Kentucky coach started 0-2 in SEC road games.
Kentucky’s second SEC road game of the 2026 season also brought a different look. The Wildcats wore silver chrome helmets, white jerseys with blue letters and numbers and blue pants.
It was the first time since the start of the 2015 season that Kentucky used that silver chrome-white-blue combination in a game. Since the beginning of 2015, the Wildcats are 14-18 in silver chrome helmets.
In Other News...
Will Stein's Late Gamble Put Kentucky Fans On Edge
Kentuckys 35-34 overtime win at South Carolina came with all the chaos youd expect from a road game that turned into the largest comeback in program history. Will Stein spent much of his postgame press conference walking through how it all unfolded, from the defensive strain that made the finish feel so precarious to the way key players helped the Wildcats dig out of a hole and keep the game alive.
Stein also owned the clock-management mistake late in regulation, a rare public slip in a night filled with high-leverage decisions. The biggest one came in overtime, when he chose to go for the win with a two-point conversion instead of extending the game, a gamble he tied to how worn down his defense had become as Kentucky dealt with injuries and a game that kept asking for one more answer. [Read more 🡒]
Kenny Minchey Just Delivered A Kentucky Road Performance Fans Rarely See
Kenny Mincheys night in Columbia started slowly, but it ended with Kentucky leaving South Carolina with a 35-34 overtime win and a quarterback performance the program has not seen often on the road. Minchey settled in as the game went on, completing 28 of 41 passes for 272 yards and three touchdowns while helping the Wildcats bounce back from early trouble and stay in the thick of the SEC race.
The bigger significance may be what Minchey just did in a road conference setting. He became the first Kentucky quarterback since 2001 to post those passing numbers in an SEC road game without throwing an interception, a rare blend of volume, efficiency and poise away from home. With the win, Kentucky moved to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in league play, and it now has a quarterback performance worth circling as the schedule gets tougher. [Read more 🡒]
Kentuckys Gutsy Win Left The Wildcats With A Worrying LSU Problem
Kentuckys overtime escape against South Carolina came with the kind of toll that can change a week in a hurry. The Wildcats survived 35-34, but the win was shadowed by a string of injuries, with running back Jason Patterson, linebacker Antwan Smith and defensive back Jaden Smith all leaving the game hurt. Jaden Smiths injury was described as severe, turning what should have been a momentum-building finish into a far more uneasy evaluation of the roster.
Coach Will Stein said several other players were already unavailable before kickoff, adding another layer of concern as Kentucky shifts its focus to LSU. The Wildcats know they earned something valuable by pulling out a gutty overtime victory, but the challenge now is figuring out how much of that lineup will be intact when the next test arrives. [Read more 🡒]