South Carolina Football: 10 Things We Learned from the Gamecocks' Win vs. UK

In what almost became the upset special of the night, South Carolina erased a 17-7 halftime deficit to clobber the Kentucky Wildcats 38-17 on the road in Lexington.

Despite the lopsided win in the second half, Steve Spurrier will have plenty to work on with his squad heading into next week's epic clash with Georgia for prime SEC East position.

Then again, it wasn't all bad for the Gamecocks on this night in Lexington...

South Carolina Still Likes to Wake Up Late

Once again, just as they did last week against Missouri, South Carolina could not get on the scoreboard in the first half. In fact, in the entire first half, they only mustered one touchdown.

The second half saw the Gamecocks run up 21 points and shut out the Wildcats completely, but it seems to be an unsettling trend over the last few years to let their opponent get the early jump.

With Georgia, LSU, Florida and Tennessee ahead of them, not getting on the scoreboard in the first quarter and first half could derail the SEC title implications South Carolina has for 2012.

Kentucky Gets Up to Play South Carolina

I feel like I'm beating a dead horse since I've said this in a piece earlier this week and during the live blog.

But it remains true.

No matter the line on the game, no matter what the circumstances are for the teams during the season, Kentucky consistently plays South Carolina tough.

The second half not withstanding, the Wildcats, with a rejuvenated enthusiasm and some lucky breaks, caught the Gamecocks napping and held the lead through the first half and part of the third quarter on Saturday night.

The previous 12 games had nine that were decided by seven points or less, but even though this game ended with the Gamecocks winning by 21, the Wildcats once again proved that they have the ability to punch South Carolina in the mouth.

South Carolina Forgets About Marcus Lattimore...

As much as South Carolina says that their offense runs on Marcus Lattimore, often times they get away from their talented All-American running back.

The first half of the game against Kentucky saw Lattimore touch the ball five times for only 12 yards, and the Gamecocks subsequently looked lost and erratic on offense as they tried to rely on the passing game and Connor Shaw's ability to escape broken plays.

South Carolina Remembers Marcus Lattimore

And then with the start of the second half, the Gamecocks remembered they had an All-American running back on their roster.

Lattimore carried the ball 18 more times in the second half and finished the night with 120 yards, his best output of the season.

His two touchdowns in the fourth quarter against a tired and dejected Kentucky defense sealed the second-half domination by the Gamecocks.

It's the SEC. Anything Can Happen!

A tipped pass that should have been intercepted that turned into a large gain...

A high snap on a fourth down play that turns into a fumble recovery inside the 10...

A freshman quarterback who manages to create enough space to scramble for first downs and keep his team in the game...

A sixth-ranked team that lets an under-talented team get a first half jump...

All of the above scenarios seemed to play out in Kentucky's favor and completely against South Carolina.

If it has been said once, it's been said plenty of times. The SEC plays like the NFL on Saturdays. Anything can happen, and everybody plays tough.

Just like they did against Vanderbilt, South Carolina had to play a road game that turned out to be tougher than they expected. In both cases, the Gamecocks got behind but rallied to victory.

South Carolina's Defense Can Rise to the Occasion

The Gamecocks on defense might have been reeling early as Kentucky rolled up 17 points by the end of the first half.

But the second half saw their secondary create two turnovers, hold the Wildcats to 243 total yards and pitch a shutout for the third and fourth quarters.

Call it the "Rabbit" defense, call it what you will. The fact is, Jadeveon Clowney and company are heartbreakers to opposing offenses.

Coming into the game, they were fifth in the country in points against at just under 10 and eighth in the country against the run.

They lived up to their billing in Lexington, but they won't be able to let the early long drives that Kentucky was able to muster come around against the likes of Georgia and company.

Connor Shaw Continues to Be Efficient in the Passing Game Despite Critics

An early incompletion ended the streak Connor Shaw had going last week against Missouri which saw him run off 20 consecutive completions.

But that didn't stop Shaw from being nearly perfect against Kentucky as he completed 15 of 18 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns.

His performance last week ended a lot of buzz around Columbia that Shaw should be benched in favor of Dylan Thompson.

His performance in the first half had some of the Gamecock faithful doubting his abilities again.

But just like against Vanderbilt, Shaw demonstrated an intangibility to extend and make plays in the passing and running game.

His toughness is contagious and will be needed in the toughest part of South Carolina's schedule.

Bruce Ellington Can Be South Carolina's X-Factor

He may not be South Carolina's primary option, but Bruce Ellington has shown a knack for being an elusive and productive part of the Gamecock offense.

The numbers against Kentucky were not anything to make SportsCenter (two catches for 29 yards), but at least a few times this season, Ellington has provided a huge third-down gain that has kept the South Carolina offense on the field.

Not to be forgotten is his ability to accelerate in the open field on returns, which was a highlight against Missouri.

In certain situations, Ellington might be able to make the difference, especially in the heart of a tough SEC schedule.

South Carolina Could Run into Problems Against Florida

It's hard to judge an opponent based on a mutual opponent in college football. After all, one week a team might play exceptionally well, and the other they may play absolutely terrible.

Kentucky played abysmally against Florida in The Swamp and was shut out by the Gators 38-0, which made everyone assume the Wildcats were in for worse against South Carolina.

Despite being a more talented group than the Wildcats in every phase of the game, the Gamecocks had to overcome a 17-7 deficit to win in Lexington.

What was the difference between last week and this week for Kentucky? Maybe it wasn't that Kentucky played all that bad, but that Florida is actually better than everyone might have assumed.

South Carolina has plenty on their plate with Georgia coming up, but for anyone to think the SEC East title will be won next week is a sad misnomer.

The 11th-ranked Gators are no slouch and didn't need to overcome anything to beat Kentucky.

The October 20th matchup in Gainesville will be quite the test for the Gamecocks.

It's Steve Spurrier Being Steve Spurrier

“Kentucky has a heck of a punter, I know that."

That was Kentucky's best attempt at bulletin-board material after the South Carolina coach made the above comment following the 54-3 thumping the Gamecocks gave the Wildcats last year in Columbia.

Even leading up to the game this year in Lexington, Spurrier made no qualms that he had the better team, but if they didn't play like the better team they would be in trouble.

And in trouble they were early on.

But halftime adjustments and most notably getting the ball in Marcus Lattimore's hands turned the tide of the ball game.

What a week it was for the Ol' Ball Coach as he remained dodgy with media blackouts and once again had a war of words with The State columnist Ron Morris.

Any other week with any other team that would be called a distraction.

Not for the 5-0 Gamecocks, however.