COLUMBIA — It could have been a game for bowl eligibility, or a game to achieve a historic win. It could have been a rescheduled game due to COVID-19, or a game to decide if an interim head coach had done enough to be the permanent head coach.
It’s none of those. South Carolina’s game at Kentucky on (7:30 p.m., SEC Network) is the last game of a trying season for both teams. While USC (2-7) and Kentucky (3-6) are eligible for a bowl game (every team is this season), the pandemic, school finances and bowl cancellations leave the proposition shaky at best.
Saturday, for the Gamecocks, is the last game of a bad season. They’ll try to win, gain a tremendous accomplishment for one individual and send interim head coach Mike Bobo out on a good note, but after the final horn, it’s all about next season.
“I’m focused on getting this team ready for Kentucky,” Bobo said about the bowl possibility. “That might be coach-speak, but that’s the truth. We don’t control making those decisions. We control getting ready for Kentucky.”
Five things to watch as USC heads to chilly Lexington:
Grand finale
Running back Kevin Harris is 72 yards away from 1,000 for the season, something only eight others in USC history have done. Bobo said he will try to get Harris the number, but he couldn’t construct his game plan around that.
Yet his game plan will have to have lots of running plays, as the Gamecocks’ passing game has been misfiring all year and the Wildcats have the SEC’s best pass defense. Harris is the top running back, so he’ll get his chances.
Wheel of Fortune
Around, around it goes, on which walk-on it stops, no one knows.
Injuries and opt-outs forced the Gamecocks to play walk-ons Darryle Ware and Noah Vincent last week. Ben Rollins dressed and Trey Adkins has been a consistent member of the rotation at receiver.
Nothing against walk-ons as they sometimes become stars. But having to suit up this many and actually play them, mostly because of non-COVID issues, is staggering.
Smith's last hurrah
Harris isn’t the only USC player with a milestone in reach. Receiver Shi Smith can set his name among the stars as well.
Smith is recovering from a concussion but has been practicing this week, with Bobo saying Thursday he should be fine to play. Bobo also said Smith has already told him he will be moving on next year (presumably to the NFL), so this game is about seeing how high he can go.
With 2,176 receiving yards, Smith is ninth on USC’s career chart. He is only six from passing Jermale Kelly for eighth and if he gets 58 yards on Saturday, he will vault from ninth to sixth.
Nobody ever strives for sixth place but when the first five are Bryan Edwards, Alshon Jeffery, Kenny McKinley, Sterling Sharpe and Zola Davis, and sixth would place Smith above Sidney Rice and Robert Brooks, that’s a prize.
Name Game
Kentucky’s running game is missing some talent. Not so much in on-field production, because injuries have held him to 38 carries for 184 yards and one touchdown.
They’ve prevented the best name in college football — Kavosiey Smoke — from impacting. That’s a situation where we all lose.
Ball drop
Saturday's game should end around 10:30 p.m. And that's when the clock starts ticking.
When will South Carolina announce a new coach announced? Probably not immediately after the game, but certainly soon.
For fans and players, it's a case of just getting it over with — both the season and the coaching search.
Prediction
Kentucky 31, South Carolina 17
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