Seth McGowan excitedly threw the ball into the stands after scoring on a 20-yard run early in the first quarter.
Kentucky running back Seth McGowan apologized Saturday night for hitting South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers’ grandfather with a football after scoring a touchdown in the Wildcats’ loss to the Gamecocks.
McGowan scored a 20-yard TD on Kentucky’s first drive of the game and threw the ball in celebration. The ball clipped a man in the left shoulder who was sitting in the first row of the stands and wearing a Sellers jersey.
Seth McGowan with a huge TOUCHDOWN! #BBNpic.twitter.com/bbJGrGGTzY
— Chris Beasmore (@CBeasmoreSports) September 28, 2025
The redshirt sophomore said he immediately realized who the ball had hit after he saw the replay and that his grandfather was “good” after the throw.
LaNorris grandad was the one hit with the ball. Here’s his interview with Cole after the game. pic.twitter.com/SrTSiT8bfQ
— Famously Garnet Sports (@FamouslyGarnet) September 28, 2025
“They showed it on the jumbotron and I was like ‘oh, yo, that’s my granddaddy,’” Sellers said in his postgame news conference.
Not long after the game was over, McGowan posted his apology to social media and said that he was attempting to throw the ball into the hedge at the back of the end zone in Williams-Brice Stadium.
Today during our game vs South Carolina, I threw a ball after a touchdown meaning to throw it at the barrier in front of the stands and during a high energy moment the ball struck a fan. What I did was absolutely unacceptable and not at all reflective of myself nor this program.
— Seth McGowan (@Sjmcg_28) September 28, 2025
If anyone can get me in contact with the fan or his family I would like to formally apologize to them and make it up any way possible. Also I would like to apologize to the entire fans of South Carolina Football and their program.
— Seth McGowan (@Sjmcg_28) September 28, 2025
McGowan’s TD was about all that went right for Kentucky against South Carolina. After the Wildcats took a 10-7 lead in the first quarter, South Carolina scored 21 points in the second quarter to put the game away by halftime. Sellers, one of the top potential picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, was 11-of-14 passing for 153 yards and rushed 14 times for 81 yards.
McGowan had 17 carries for 112 yards and has been Kentucky’s leading rusher so far this season. He’s in his first season with the Wildcats after spending the 2024 season at New Mexico State following a stint in community college. He initially signed with Oklahoma out of high school and played the 2020 season for the Sooners before he was kicked off the team and spent time in jail after he and two other players stole items from an apartment in the spring of 2021.
Category: General Sports
