Following South Carolina’s 26-22 home loss to Kentucky Saturday night, Gamecocks senior running back Brandon Wilds mentioned that he would like to get the ball more in the red zone where his team struggled to score touchdowns against the Wildcats.

A look at the red zone play-by-play would indicate he has a point.

For the game, Wilds carried the ball 16 times for 106 yards (an average of 6.6 yards per carry). Of the 20 plays South Carolina ran inside the Kentucky 25-yard line, only four of them were carries by Wilds. Three of those came on the Gamecocks’ final field goal drive of the night as the 6-foot-1, 220-pound senior had consecutive four yard carries (one for a first down) followed by a 1-yard loss in the teeth of the UK defense on 2nd-and-goal.

Here were some other aspects of the game that give credence to Wilds’ point (which South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier agreed with).

-On two of the field goal drives, Wilds was replaced by David Williams once the Gamecocks got deep into Kentucky territory.

-On the first drive of the second half, South Carolina reached the Kentucky 11 and three straight passing plays were called- two were incomplete.

-On another third quarter drive, Wilds had a 34-yard run followed by a 4-yard run to put the Gamecocks at the Kentucky 24. True freshman quarterback Lorenzo Nunez came in and ran the ball for 7 yards and a first down. The next three plays- Williams runs for two yards followed by two Orth incompletions.

Granted, defenses in major college football are very good and you can’t just hand the ball off and expect to score touchdowns when you get deep in an opponent’s territory, but Wilds in a lot of ways is South Carolina’s most proven option when it gets that close to the end zone. He’s a big, physical back with speed. He’s in the best shape of his career with the Gamecocks and he’s been a difference-maker for the better part of four seasons when healthy.

It’s not a given he will be the touchdown-maker South Carolina needs in the red zone, but he’s the Gamecocks’ best chance in a number of different scenarios and certainly deserves to get the ball as a whole more than he has been getting it when it’s time to punch it in.