LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky scored 10 points on its first two possessions on the way to beating South Carolina 41-18 Saturday at Kroger Field.
The Wildcats had to settle for a short 22 yard field goal from Matt Ruffolo on their first trip downfield. Jordan Wright got it right back for Kentucky by forcing a fumble and recovering it at South Carolina's 26 yard line. Two plays later Chris Rodriguez got into the endzone from a yard out to give UK a 10-0 advantage.
After a South Carolina field goal, Kentucky would score 24 unanswered. Terry Wilson hit tight end Justin Rigg for a 31 yard pass and a 21 yard pass. Then, A.J. Rose finished the drive with an eight yard score. The Wildcats led 17-3.
After a Yusef Corker interception and the teams trading punts, Kentucky scored again. Chris Rodriguez got in for his second score of the game from two yards out and the UK lead was up to 24-3.
Just before halftime, Jordan Wright would come up with his second fumble recovery of the game and that led to a Ruffolo 41 yard field goal to help the Wildcats take a 27-3 lead into the half.
Start of the second half, the Cats put together a 13 play drive that went 75 yards and it was senior Terry Wilson taking it a yard for the touchdown. UK would lead 34-3.
After South Carolina made it interesting with a couple of touchdowns, Kentucky used one play to put it away as Chris Rodriguez went 79 yards for his third touchdown of the game. UK was up 41-18. He had 139 yards on 14 carries for an average of 9.9 yards per carry.
Rose 101 yards to help him make the top 10 all-time in UK rushing history while also crossing the 2,000 yard mark for all-purpose yards. Terry Wilson played his final game by completing 17-of-26 passes for 201 yards and ran for 46 more yards and the one score. He's the first player in UK history to throw for at least 3,000 yards and rush for more than 1,000.
UK finishes the regular season with a 4-6 record and in this COVID-19 season they could make a bowl game. However, Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops said he would talk to his players to get their feeling on whether to extend the season for one more bowl game. Kentucky has played in four straight.
