Kentucky is heading into Saturday’s trip to South Carolina with the Gamecocks missing one of their biggest defensive weapons, but Will Stein isn’t treating Dylan Stewart’s suspension like a game-changer.
Stewart’s absence became the major storyline after the South Carolina edge rusher was involved in a blowout loss to Alabama, where he was seen arguing with coaches and, most notably, throwing a punch at an Alabama player. Shane Beamer suspended him “indefinitely,” and the SEC added a minimum one-game suspension for the punch.
The result is the same either way: Stewart will not be on the field when South Carolina hosts Kentucky on Saturday, Oct. 3.
For Kentucky, that’s not a small development. Stewart has been a problem for the Wildcats before, especially during the Mark Stoops era.
In two games against Kentucky, he piled up seven tackles, 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. Across his college career, Stewart has 57 total tackles, 37 solo tackles, three passes defended, 11 sacks and six forced fumbles.
Still, Stein made it clear he’s not adjusting the approach just because Stewart is out.
"It really doesn't do anything to us," Stein said. "We control what we can. Shane's got to take care of his team just like I got to take care of mine, so we're excited to play them, regardless of who's on the field."
That answer fit the tone Stein has carried since arriving. He has repeatedly leaned into the idea of facing the best and not flinching, and Kentucky’s results have backed that up at times.
The Wildcats went into then No. 9 Texas A&M and won in College Station, and they also led No.
7 Alabama at halftime before the game slipped away in the second half.
Stein said the challenge doesn’t change just because one star is unavailable.
"This is an SEC football game," he said. "They're all big games.
This is the closest thing to the NFL, it really is. It's any given Saturday.
You can beat anybody, anybody can beat you. So, if you don't have that type of edge in practice, don't expect that edge to just show up miraculously in the games.
We got an opportunity to go to Columbia, South Carolina, and play a really good opponent on the road. I think that's what gets us motivated."
Even with Stewart out, South Carolina still has enough talent to make life difficult. Stein stressed that point after Kentucky’s win at Texas A&M, saying the Wildcats can’t get comfortable just because one elite player is missing.
"There's freak shows on the other side of the ball on every single team," he said. "You have to be at your best every single week.
That's the expectation for us. All this does is drive home our points even more to our players.
How we play, how we practice is the way that you have to play to win at this level in this conference."
Kentucky and South Carolina are set to meet at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia on Saturday, Oct. 3, with kickoff scheduled for 4:15 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. After Stewart’s suspension and the week four games, South Carolina is a 2.5-point home favorite.
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