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Gameday picture · Week 5 · SEC

UK at SC

Sat, Oct 3 · TBD · Williams–Brice Stadium

Desk line: South Carolina −3.5, total 51.5. A must-bank home SEC game against a new Kentucky staff. Sellers should be the best player on the field.

Spread

SC -3.5

Desk line

Total

51.5

Win

57%

Kentucky

23

desk projection

Gamecocks

27

Desk implied 2824 · SC −165 / UK +140

Kick weather

76°F

October Saturday · first cool home · lo 58°F

25% precip

Window

TBD

Home SEC. Will Stein's first trip to Williams–Brice. Kick TBD.

Stein debut vs a Briles home script.

Unit matchups

Quarterback

SC 8 · 6 UK

Sellers vs Kenny Minchey (Notre Dame transfer). Experience gap is SC's.

Offensive line

SC 7 · 6 UK

By Week 5 the interior should be settled. Don't let a new UK front wreck it.

Receivers

SC 7 · 6 UK

Harbor vs a rebuilt Kentucky secondary.

Front seven

SC 7 · 6 UK

Minchey is not a runner. Sit on the pass and let Stewart hunt.

Secondary

SC 7 · 6 UK

UK will try to be complementary. Take away the chunk.

Special teams

SC 7 · 6 UK

Field position in a three-point game.

Availability

  • Jayden Sellers WR

    Season-ending lower body. Mid-August.

    out
  • Jayden Gibson WR

    Season-ending lower body. Oklahoma transfer.

    out
  • Jackson Repp WR

    Walk-on, also lost in the same stretch.

    out
  • Jacarrius Peak OT

    Knee. Targeted back for the SEC stretch if the Week 3 window holds.

    probable
  • Dylan Stewart EDGE

    Back. The tell for every SEC Saturday — if he dresses, the edge grade jumps.

    probable
  • Brady Hunt TE

    Full go.

    available
  • LaNorris Sellers QB

    Full go. The season walks through him.

    available
  • Nyck Harbor WR

    Gravitational center of a thinned room.

    available

What the tape says

  • Run it on first down. Stein's first SEC road game cannot be allowed to play from ahead.
  • Harbor volume. This is a game to feed the best player.
  • Don't beat yourself. Three-point home favorite is a turnover game.
  • Stewart vs a new offensive line — get home before the adjustment.

History

  • Will Stein's first season at Kentucky. First trip to Columbia as a head coach.
  • Kenny Minchey transferred from Notre Dame after losing the 2025 job to CJ Carr.
  • Home October SEC games at Williams–Brice are supposed to be the ones you bank.

Roster advantage · vs Kentucky

SC holds the two-deep

Starter-vs-starter grades for Will Stein's Kentucky.

Net grade

+9

8 SC · 0 even · 0 UK

QB

SC edge

LaNorris Sellers

SC 8

vs

Kenny Minchey

6 UK

Minchey lost the Notre Dame job. Sellers is the better athlete.

RB

SC edge

Matt Fuller

SC 7

vs

UK committee

6 UK

If SC runs it, Stein's first SEC road script gets one-dimensional.

WR

SC edge

Nyck Harbor

SC 7

vs

UK corners

6 UK

Harbor should win. Get him 8+ targets.

OL

SC edge

Carter Miller

SC 7

vs

UK front

6 UK

Five weeks in, this should look like a unit.

EDGE

SC edge

Dylan Stewart

SC 7

vs

UK tackles

6 UK

A hunting day if he's healthy.

DL

SC edge

G. Brownlow-Dindy

SC 7

vs

UK interior

6 UK

Stuff the run, then pin Minchey's ears back.

LB

SC edge

Fred Johnson

SC 7

vs

UK skill

6 UK

Standard SEC fits. Don't over-pursue.

DB

SC edge

Vicari Swain

SC 7

vs

UK receivers

6 UK

complementary offense. Sit on it.