After an earlier loss this season, Kentucky Coach Joker Phillips said, "You just can't turn the ball over 3 or 4 times in one game and still win in this league." I was about to say, "Oh yes you can", when South Carolina committed three turnovers in the first half alone and still led UK 28 to 10.
Let's face it, without those three gifts, the Cats would have trailed by at least a score of 37 to 10 at intermission, and it was hard to find any legitimate reason why that margin wouldn't build in the second half. Kentucky's tackling had beeen absolutely atrocious for the first 30 minutes, but just as they did against Auburn, the UK defense started coming through with big stops, and the complexion of the game changed completely.
The state of Kentucky is known for basketball, not football, but it is on the football field where UK has produced one of the great American success stories of the 21st century. It is the story of a quarterback who refused to listen to all the doubters who told him he simply wasn't good enough. Mike Hartline shrugged off all the criticism, endured all the slings and arrows, and proved himself capable of producing remarkable comebacks.
This latest one shouldn't have surprised us. Hartline completed 13 straight passes against Auburn the week before, and his streak ended only when another perfect pass was dropped. His offensive line had done a great job of protecting him all season until South Carolina sacked him three times and hit him countless more times just as he was releasing the ball. Still he kept moving the chains even on 3rd and long. Trailing 28 - 17 and faced with what looked like and impossible 3rd and 14 situation, Hartline hooked up with Chris Matthews for a 22 yard gain.
The performance by Matthews was a microcosm of the entire game. The big junior college transfer lost his temper and committed a stupid personal foul that moved UK out of field goal range in the first half. But rather than pouting about his mistake, Matthews came back to make one big play after another enroute to the most productive night of his career.
Some nay sayers will still find ways to devalue this win. They can say if South Carolina's great freshman running back, Marcus Lattimore hadn't sprained his ankle after single handedly racking up more offensive yardage than the whole Kentucky team in the first half, even three UK touchdowns wouldn't have been enough of a comeback to win. What you have to remember is that UK's best running back, Derrick Locke, spent the entire game on the sidelines with an injury. So the fact that South Carolina had Lattimore for a half gave them the advantage.
The Gamecocks came into Commonwealth Stadium averaging 374 yards of offense per game. They came within 5 yards of equalling that total in the first half against Kentucky, partly because the Cats defensive scheme on more than one occasion was to have big defensive lineman trying to cover pass receivers downfield.
South Carolina meanwhile keyed their defense to stop Randall Cobb, and they did apply some vicious hits to contain him early in the game. They even threw him for losses on successive plays in the opening quarter, but they couldn't stop him when it counted most.
Cobb isn't the biggest player in college football today, but I'm convinced he is the most determined. When a game is on the line, he is the one player I would most like to see with the ball in his hands. Going for it on 4th and 1 late in the game, UK surprised no one by snapping it directly to Cobb in the Wildcat formation, and he still got more than enough for the crucial first down.
He also caught the touchdown pass that put UK ahead for the first time all night at 29 - 28. Somehow though Randall had still saved his best for last, and it was his 2 point conversion run that ultimately saved the game for the Cats. If he had been stopped short of the end zone, South Carolina would never have tried that pass that was intercepted on the final play of the game. After marching down inside UK's 20 yard line, they would simply have kicked a game winning field goal. But with the Cats' lead at 3 points, Steve Spurrier's arrogance would not allow him to go for a game tying field goal to force overtime. That decision allowed Kentucky to beat the ole ball coach for the first time ever.
Kentucky had plenty of heroes: Cobb, Matthews, Danny Trevathan, Taylor Windham and of course Mike Hartline. Add it all up, and the Cats now look like a good bet to got to a bowl game for a 5th straight year because now they know they're capable of coming from behind to beat even a Top Ten team.
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