Stayin’ alive: South Carolina keeps bowl hopes afloat with win over Kentucky

There was a lot of talk this week about the power of a night game at Willy-B.

South Carolina came into Saturday needing to win its final two games to make a bowl. They needed to beat Kentucky this week and Clemson next week to keep its season going. Both games would be at Williams-Brice Stadium. And both games would be at night.

Shane Beamer has talked a lot about a November to remember. Well, the venue was perfect. Saturday had the feel of a big game, the type of pregame buzz that you get when you mix hope and six hours of tailgating.

“I remember thinking to myself,” Beamer said, “this is the loudest that I have heard this stadium since I have been the head coach here. It was hard to hear on the headphones tonight, as coaches, because of the crowd noise.”

For so long during South Carolina’s 17-14 victory over Kentucky, it felt like the Gamecocks were going to waste the most-exquisite environment of the season.

Instead, the Gamecocks (5-6, 3-5 SEC) are now just one win away from a trip to a bowl game. South Carolina will play rival Clemson (7-4) next Saturday for another night game. Another chance to keep the November magic churning.

And, for South Carolina’s sake, hopefully the path to victory is less arduous than it was against the Wildcats (6-5, 3-5 SEC).

After scoring a touchdown on its opening drive, the Gamecocks did not find the end zone for another 45 minutes of game time. South Carolina spent all of the third quarter and most of the fourth quarter looking like a team that had run out of gas.

“That was a long third quarter,” Beamer said. “Long quarter and a half.”

The offensive line couldn’t block anyone, especially Kentucky defensive tackle Deone Walker (who will haunt Beamer’s nightmares until he leaves for the NFL in a few years). The South Carolina rushing attack — playing without Juju McDowell and Dakereon Joyner — could not overcome injuries with creativity.

At one point, the Gamecocks had run 13 second-half plays and gained just 22 yards. Stuck in the mud doesn’t do it justice.

Then, perhaps, a little of that Willy-B magic came through.

Down 14-10 early in the fourth quarter, Rattler refused to die. The redshirt senior quarterback led the Gamecocks on a nine-play, 74-yard drive that ended with Rattler tip-toeing in a crowded pocket and lofting a 17-yard touchdown to Xavier Legette.

“(Djay Braswell) made a huge block so I could make a little move in the pocket,” Rattler said. “I barely saw (Xavier), but I put it in the spot it needed to be and he made the catch.”

Rattler called for the snap just before the play clock expired. From the sideline, Beamer nearly called a timeout.

“Thank God I didn’t,” he said. “The football Gods were smiling on us tonight.”

Indeed, they were. It was everything South Carolina needed, the drive that will be ingrained in the minds of all 77,788 fans that witnessed it. The Gamecocks overcame a 1st-and-20, a 3rd-and-15, and a 2nd-and-26 before Legette pulled down his second touchdown of the night.

But, for a second, it felt like deja vu. The Florida loss was just about a month ago, a homecoming game at Williams-Brice where South Carolina’s offense scored twice in the fourth quarter only for its defense to allow a soul-crushing touchdown late.

But this is a different South Carolina team. A squad with more confidence. Better execution. More of an identity.

So as Kentucky quarterback Devin Leary dropped back with just over two minutes to play, it was speedy edge rusher Jordan Strachan who knocked Leary’s pass loose and Tonka Hemingway who picked it off.

“I just saw the ball go up,” Hemingway said. “My eyes got big.”

A team that couldn’t buy a turnover last month now has nine takeaways in the past three games, including three against the Wildcats.

“So proud of our defense,” Beamer said. “For all the crap they have taken this season, they played their rear ends off tonight.”

Standing on the Williams-Brice sideline, wearing a garnet jersey and waving a white towel was Darude. The Finnish DJ popular for creating the song “Sandstorm” made his first appearance in Columbia since his hit became the unofficial anthem of South Carolina.

He played a pregame set inside Gamecock Village, which looked to be packed with about 20,000 folks. Then he came out in the Cockaboose as the game’s celebrity starter and even hopped inside the DJ booth at Williams-Brice and mixed “Sandstorm” for the crowd.

“I told our players they needed to have elite focus tonight when they weren’t in the game,” Beamer said. “And every time I looked up, they were watching the videoboard at (Darude) DJing.”

After Legette’s late-game score, the crowd came alive. All week, Darude had heard of what it feels like when Willy-B is rocking at night. It is one thing to hear about it and another to experience it.

Darude turned to SEC Network sideline reporter Cole Cubelic in awe.

“This is (expletive) incredible,” he said.

Yes. Yes it is.

Next South Carolina football game

Who: Clemson (7-4) at South Carolina (5-6)

When: 7:30 p.m. next Saturday

Where: Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia

TV: SEC Network