LEXINGTON, Ky. _ There were some tense moments, some uncomfortable clock ticks for the sellout crowd at Kroger Field on Saturday night.
But No. 17 Kentucky still managed to walk away with a 24-10 victory over South Carolina. It was the Cats' fifth straight win over the Gamecocks.
A massive second quarter, which included 21 straight points for UK, provided just enough cushion to keep South Carolina down.
The Gamecocks (2-2, 1-2 SEC) kept things interesting in the second half, but Kentucky made just enough plays on defense to win it.
The victory helped the unbeaten Cats move to 5-0 for the first time since 2007 and gave them their first 3-0 start in league play since the 1977 UK team that went undefeated In the SEC.
October hasn't even started yet and Kentucky is one game from bowl eligibility.
The second quarter, which included touchdown runs from quarterback Terry Wilson, A.J. Rose and Benny Snell, helped give the Cats a lead they'd never relinquish, heading into the locker room up 24-3.
In front of a sellout crowd of 63,081, the Cats outgained the Gamecocks 328-321. UK had 195 yards on the ground behind Snell's 99 yards on 28 carries. Wilson added nine carries for 59 yards while completing 13 of his 20 pass attempts for 132 yards.
South Carolina's Jake Bentley threw for 148 yards and a touchdown, but was picked off three times by Darius West, Derrick Baity and Mike Edwards, whose interception in the end zone helped keep the Gamecocks from making it interesting.
West led Kentucky with nine tackles. Josh Allen added eight tackles, including three for a loss and two sacks.
The teams swapped 29-yard field goals in the first quarter before Kentucky grabbed the lead 10-3 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Wilson early in the second quarter.
The Cats got quite a few big plays on the next 80-yard scoring drive, including a 17-yard pass to C.J. Conrad, a 20-yard pass to Dorian Baker, followed by Rose's powerful 24-yard touchdown run to make it 17-3 with 9:15 to play in the first half.
The defense came through on the next drive as Jake Bentley ran around dodging tacklers before throwing a pass that landed in Derrick Baity's hands.
That pick set up a six-play, 61-yard drive that ended in the crowd chanting "Benny, Benny, Benny" and him obliging with a 4-yard touchdown run to give Kentucky a 24-3 advantage.
Kentucky carried that lead into the break, having outgained the Gamecocks 252-117, with 168 yards of that coming on the ground.
In the first half, Bentley was held to nine yards passing, connecting on just three of his 11 attempts with the one pick to Baity.
Another UK cornerback, Lonnie Johnson, tried to get an interception of his own in the third quarter, jumping in front of a Bentley pass intended for Deebo Samuel.
The play ended in Samuel catching the pass and going 58 yards for the touchdown, the first points allowed by the UK defense in the third quarter of a game this season.
It kept South Carolina in striking distance, 24-10, midway through the third quarter.
Cats safety Darius West grabbed another Bentley pass out of the air to give the defense a lift it needed late in the third quarter, but Kentucky's leading tackler, Kash Daniel, was ejected on the play for targeting a South Carolina player.
It means Daniel also will be forced to sit out the first half at Texas A&M next week.
