Staff Picks: South Carolina at Kentucky, other Week 2 matchups

One week down, still a very long way to go. Week 2 of the college football season is shaping up to be a good one with a lot of big games, including one up in Lexington.

South Carolina opens SEC play against Kentucky at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. This will prove to be a matchup with plenty of large implications for the future on both sides.

Here’s how the GamecockCentral and 107.5 The Game staff sees this game going plus a few predictions on other key matchups this weekend.

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George Bagwell: I don’t think Kentucky’s offense is altogether that good. It looked good against Southern Miss, but that’s not exactly a great barometer. The defense is the team’s strength, and it may be difficult for South Carolina to move the ball in Lexington this weekend. The Gamecocks will, however, get the points necessary to win while the South Carolina D-Line causes havoc to the Wildcats’ backfield. South Carolina 24, Kentucky 13.

Peyton Butt: South Carolina has a lot to lose with this game and all the uncertainties after week one. With the game being on the road I don’t think the Gamecocks will bring enough aggression or control to pull out a win. Kentucky 24, South Carolina 7.

Elijah Campbell: I’m expecting a serious Big Ten-like rock fight in this one. Both teams have big advantages with their defensive lines but I trust Kentucky’s offensive line to do a better job of keeping the defense at bay. I also have a hard time seeing most of the glaring issues in the Gamecock offense get rectified after just one week. Kentucky has just more reliable play makers and a better QB and that is enough for mee to feel they score just enough to win by multiple scores. Kentucky 24, South Carolina 13 .

Chris Clark: This should be a defensive battle in Lexington. It will likely come down to one or two big plays and which team makes the least mistakes offensively. UK proved a bit more in week one, but there’s still a lot we don’t know about both of these squads. Kentucky 20, South Carolina 17.

Terry Ford: I think the Gamecocks and the Wildcats do what they always do, play a close game. I believe LaNorris Sellers will settle down and show better against an excellent Kentucky defense and the South Carolina D will continue to play well but the Cats will make the big plays down the stretch to win a tight one at home. Kentucky 22, South Carolina 20.

Griffin Goodwyn: Kentucky delivered a strong performance against a Group of Five opponent in its first game of the season, taking down Southern Mississippi 31-0 in a game that was called with around 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Golden Eagles were a much weaker opponent than Old Dominion was for the Gamecocks — the Monarchs currently sit 16 spots above Southern Mississippi in ESPN’s FPI rankings — but South Carolina’s lack of firepower through the air is hard to ignore, especially as LaNorris Sellers makes his first SEC road start. The Gamecocks’ defensive line will make this game close, but the Wildcats head into this matchup with the upper hand and will end the contest on top. Kentucky 23, South Carolina 16.

Tyler Head: There’s still lots of unknowns with both teams. SC’s offense needs to make a big jump in practice this week to make this happen. That being said, Kentucky looked far more fluid on offense and I think that’s the difference. Kentucky 24, South Carolina 17.

[Win two tickets to the South Carolina-LSU football game]

Wes Mitchell: In years of watching the great game of football, I’ve learned never to put too much stock, good or bad, in one game. We still don’t know what this South Carolina team is but I’m in “show me” mode until I see more out of the offense. I don’t think the Gamecocks are as bad as what they showed last week, but I was also pretty impressed with Kentucky’s Week 1 execution and think they’ve got a solid to good squad, which is as much of a factor as anything with this pick. As is the fact the game is in Lexington instead of the friendly confines of Willy B. A South Carolina win would not shock me at all, believe it or not, but I can’t pick it. Kentucky 23, South Carolina 20.

Jay Philips: Last week I said there would be some “ugly” thrown into the mix for the Gamecocks, but I didn’t envision quite as much of it as we saw. How much gets corrected in a week? That’s the big question against a UK team that is very talented in the trenches. The Cats will look to make Carolina even more one-dimensional than we saw against ODU, so unless that changes I see a road loss. Kentucky 23, South Carolina 16.

Kendall Smith: It’s so hard to say this… And believe me, I want to be wrong. I just think the veteran presence Kentucky brings back, having home field advantage, and the shaky start from the Gamecocks last week doesn’t give me undeniable confidence that South Carolina will win this game. Can they? Absolutely. I believe in this group. I just don’t like the timing of this matchup. Kentucky (sorry y’all) in a close one… Kentucky 27, South Carolina 17.

Mike Uva: It’s only Week 2 but after this weekend I’m Kentucky, we should have a better idea of who South Carolina will be. Leaning on their defense, I expect this to be another low-scoring game between these two teams. But unlike last week, look for some of those blocks to spring longer runs for the Gamecocks to get a much needed win to start SEC play. South Carolina 23, Kentucky 17.

Jack Veltri: Man, my entire thought process on South Carolina is slowly changing after how bad things looked offensively last weekend. But I think it would be a disservice to stray away from my 8-4 season prediction for this team so early on. This is going to be a tall task to go into Lexington and come out with a win. If the offense can find a way to get something cooking in the passing game, I like the Gamecocks’ chances. Couple that with running the football well and playing good defense again and it can be done. The key will be to force the Wildcats into some mistakes. South Carolina 19, Kentucky 17.

Chris Wellbaum: South Carolina’s defense keeps it relatively close, but I need to see improvement from the offense before I can pick the Gamecocks. Kentucky 24, South Carolina 11.

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