SEC Championship Game 2010: The Evidence Of Common opponents

SB Nation’s SEC blog, Team Speed Kills, breaks down Auburn and South Carolina’s history with common opponents, featuring the Gamecocks’ most ignominious loss of 2010:

Auburn faced Kentucky a week before South Carolina did, so this game might provide a little bit closer to a moment in time. Of course, South Carolina was also coming off the program-redefining win against Alabama, so take that into account. The truth of the matter is that, for all the attention that Stephen Garcia’s interception in the end zone got at the end of that game, South Carolina lost to Kentucky largely because the Gamecocks couldn’t hold onto the football. Another interception led to a touchdown earlier in the game, and a fumble near the end of the first half killed a drive that was in Kentucky territory. There’s also a notable similarity in the flow of these two games: Both teams took a sizable lead against Kentucky only to watch the Wildcats rally; Auburn stopped the rally in time and South Carolina didn’t. And notice that while Auburn did better on the offensive side of the ball against Kentucky, they also did a better job on defense.