Kentucky walked into one of the loudest places in the SEC and spent the first half looking like it might get swallowed whole. Williams-Brice Stadium did its thing, South Carolina piled up a 17-0 lead, and LaNorris Sellers was running the show. Then the Wildcats flipped the script.
No. 24 Kentucky rallied all the way back for a 35-34 overtime win, pulling off the largest road comeback in program history.
According to Corey Price, it was also Kentucky’s first overtime road victory ever. That means two pieces of history in one chaotic night: the Wildcats had never won on the road after trailing by 17 or more, and they had never won an overtime game on the road.
Both streaks are gone now.
The finish was pure nerve. South Carolina scored first in overtime to go up 34-27, and Kentucky answered when Kenny Minchey hit tight end Henry Boyer for a touchdown.
At that point, most teams kick the extra point and keep playing. Will Stein didn’t.
He kept the offense on the field and went for two.
Minchey dropped back, the play completely fooled the South Carolina defense, and Willie Rodriguez was left wide open for the conversion that ended it, 35-34. On the road, in that building, Stein chose to put the game in his offense’s hands and take it right there.
Minchey was the engine of the comeback. He finished 28 of 41 for 272 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions.
Kentucky needed every bit of that calm, because the pocket wasn’t always clean and the start was rocky. He kept firing anyway, and he kept finding his targets.
One of those targets was freshman Kenny Darby, who turned in a huge night with 12 catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. That kind of production on the road in the SEC stands out, and it gives Kentucky another piece to build around.
South Carolina still had plenty of fight. Sellers threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns and added 147 rushing yards on 17 carries. His 74-yard run was a backbreaker in the moment, the kind of play that can swing a game back in the home team’s favor.
Kentucky’s defense didn’t shut him down, but it made enough plays when the game got tight. Grant Godfrey led the way with nine tackles, a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a fumble recovery. As a unit, the Wildcats forced four fumbles and recovered two, giving the offense the chances it needed after spotting South Carolina those first 17 points.
The result was Kentucky’s second SEC road win of the season, something the program hadn’t done since 2023. More than that, it was the kind of win that says a lot about where this team thinks it is now: down early, hit hard, and still willing to finish the game on its own terms.
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 🡒]