A tricky one

LEXINGTON, Ky. — During a 10-minute, postgame rant, USC coach Steve Spurrier called out his secondary coach, threatened to move offensive players to the defensive backfield and railed on his team’s inability to put away teams.

For the record, the Gamecocks won Saturday.

But it was hard to tell listening to Spurrier, who did not appreciate having to sweat out the 24-17 victory against a Kentucky team that trailed by 14 points with less than five minutes left.
“Heck, we won. I guess I ought to be happy,” Spurrier said. “But I don’t like endings like this.”

USC tailback Cory Boyd had his first career 100-yard rushing game and accounted for 174 all-purpose yards. Quarterback Syvelle Newton racked up 248 yards of total offense and was on the receiving end of a trick-play touchdown.

But all Spurrier wanted to talk about were the defensive letdowns that gave the Wildcats a chance to tie it on the final play of the game.

USC defensive backs Fred Bennett and Darian Stewart knocked down Andre’ Woodson’s Hail Mary pass in the end zone as time expired, preserving a win that Spurrier believed was closer than it should have been.

“We’re still South Carolina. We still can’t shake being a South Carolina team that don’t know how to win. That’s sad to say,” Spurrier said. “I don’t know if this has happened in the past, but I’m not used to it happening to teams I’m coaching.

“Get a two-touchdown lead and almost just say, ‘Come on back, boys, and hopefully we can hold on and edge you out.’ ”

Spurrier improved to 14-0 all-time against Kentucky, while USC (4-2, 2-2 SEC) won its seventh in a row against the Wildcats (3-3, 1-2).

Kenny McKinley’s 22-yard strike to Newton on a reverse pass gave the Gamecocks a 24-10 lead with 4:42 left.

But Kentucky needed less than two minutes to answer. Woodson hit Dicky Lyons for 63 yards to the USC 9-yard line when two Gamecocks’ defensive backs blew their assignments in the three-deep zone.

That play drew Spurrier’s ire and prompted him to summon secondary coach Ron Cooper from the locker room to answer questions from the media about what went wrong.

Cooper explained that cornerback Carlos Thomas failed to get deep enough and nickel back Ty Erving did not bump Lyons off his route. Two plays later, Woodson found Lyons for a 9-yard touchdown to pull the Wildcats to 24-17 with 2:56 left.

After Kentucky’s onside kick bounced out of bounds, USC looked like it would salt the game away with five consecutive rushes by Boyd, who finished with 113 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries. But Boyd was stopped for no gain on third-and-3 at the Kentucky 20. A delay of game penalty pushed USC back 5 yards.

Not wanting to risk a bad snap or a block on a field goal, Spurrier called a running play for Newton on fourth down, giving Kentucky the ball 80 yards from the end zone with 22 seconds left.
Keenan Burton’s 38-yard catch moved the Wildcats into USC territory and gave Woodson a final shot at the end zone. Only after the ball was batted down could Spurrier breathe a sigh of relief — not that it improved his mood.

“That was embarrassing that we just let them guys go up and down the field in the last four minutes of the game,” he said.

Spurrier told his team afterward that he might use offensive players — later he mentioned Boyd, McKinley and tailback Mike Davis — in a prevent defense because they understood how to make plays on the ball.

Asked about Spurrier’s comments, Bennett, a three-year starter, said: “He’s the coach. If that’s what he feels needs to be done, that’s what needs to be done.”

USC led 17-0 early in the second half when sloppy special teams play burned the Gamecocks for the second game in a row. An onside kick allowed Auburn to hold the ball for the entire third quarter in the Tigers’ 24-17 win on Sept. 28.

Kentucky used a fake punt to wrestle momentum away from the Gamecocks. Punter Tim Masthay took off up the middle for a 17-yard run on fourth-and-2 from the Wildcats’ 29-yard line to wake up the blue-clad crowd at Commonwealth Stadium.

Five plays after the fake punt, Woodson skipped in for a 3-yard touchdown on a bootleg to cut the lead to 17-7 with 6:57 left in the third quarter.

After USC failed to pick up a first down on its next drive, Kentucky added a 31-yard field goal from Lones Seiber that made it 17-10 late in the third quarter.

The perfectly executed reverse pass pushed USC’s lead to two touchdowns, but there would be more sweating to come.

“It should have been a day at play,” Cooper said.

But it was a win, even if it did not feel like it.

Reach Person at (803) 771-8496.

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