Kenny Minchey hit Willie Rodriguez for a game-winning two-point conversion in overtime to cap the Kentucky football program’s biggest comeback in 16 years with a 35-34 win at South Carolina.
After South Carolina had scored a touchdown on the first possession of overtime, No. 24 Kentucky answered with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Minchey to tight end Henry Boyer. Coach Will Stein then elected to go for two instead of a game-tying point-after attempt.
Minchey found Rodriguez wide open in the back of the end zone for the win.
The Wildcats rallied from 17 points down in the first half. Only once in program history had Kentucky rallied from a bigger deficit for a win (18 points vs. South Carolina on Oct. 16, 2010).
South Carolina jumped out to a 17-0 lead with points on three of its first four drives. Kentucky seized momentum with a turnover late in the second quarter but still trailed 20-10 at halftime.
The Wildcats marched 75 yards on seven plays on the first drive of the second half to pull within three then took its first lead on a 32-yard pass from Minchey to Nic Anderson for a touchdown with 2:34 left in the third quarter.
South Carolina regained the lead on its next drive. Kentucky tied it at 27 with a 29-yard field goal from Adam Zouagui with 5:23 left.
Kentucky had a chance to win the game in regulation when it got the ball back with 2 minutes on the clock and two timeouts, but time expired after Minchey completed a pass to Darby in bounds at the South Carolina 37-yard line after Kentucky had exhausted its timeouts.
South Carolina scored on its first possession of overtime on a 5-yard pass from LaNorris Sellers to Maurice Brown.
Turning point
Kentucky looked on its way to an embarrassing blowout loss with 5 minutes left in the first half when outside linebacker Sam Greene added to his season of game-changing plays with a forced fumble at the South Carolina 30-yard line. Jaden Williams recovered the fumble at the South Carolina 33 to give Kentucky its best field position of the day. Five plays later, Baxter put Kentucky on the board with a 3-yard touchdown run. A South Carolina three-and-out followed to flip the momentum to UK.
Player of the game
Minchey looked shaky early, like the rest of Kentucky’s offense, but he finished the night with one of the biggest plays in program history. He completed 28 of 41 passes for 272 yards and three touchdowns. Minchey also gained 12 yards on eight carries, recording four first downs with his legs.
Key stat
Mark Stoops was 0-49 in 13 seasons when his team fell behind by more than 14 points UK had not rallied for a win even down 14 since 2015. Stein needed just five games to rally from a bigger deficit than Stoops ever did.
This story was originally published October 3, 2026 at 8:09 PM.
Source: www.kentucky.com
