Oct 07, 2013 01:09 PM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Maybe it was to rest up for the Arkansas game, or maybe he really was hurt, but South Carolina (SC) head football coach Steve Spurrier did not seem too ecstatic about Jadeveon Clowney asking to sit out Saturday's game against Kentucky.

The 13th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks beat the now 1-4 Kentucky (unranked) without their star defensive end, but only by seven points. SC was outscored in the fourth quarter 21-8 after only allowing Kentucky seven points in the first three quarters of the game.

Afterwards, Spurrier's focus did not seem to be on the win, but on his best defensive player's last-minute request to sit out.

"[If Clowney] wants to play, we will welcome him to come play for the team if he wants," Spurrier said. "But if he doesn't want to play, he doesn't have to play. Simple as that."

SC has won its last three games rather unconvincingly, surviving late-game comebacks against UCF, Vanderbilt and now Kentucky.

According to ESPN, Clowney reportedly told his coaches before the game that his bruised ribs were hurting him too much to suit up for the game. The injury prevented him from practicing Thursday, but Spurrier reclassified it to a muscle strain Sunday. The coach emphasized his frustration was with Clowney's timing and not the decision itself.

"It was just we didn't know he wasn't playing until right before the game," Spurrier said. "That is always a little frustrating. Usually the trainer or doctor comes and tells you this guy is out, and that did not happen last night. But on the other side if a player is in pain and can't play, I don't want him to play. None of us do."

Spurrier said Clowney will be listed as "questionable" on the injury report for next weekend's game against Arkansas. He has also restricted Clowney from speaking to the media except for after games. This will change for this week, so the defensive end will have a chance to explain his injury for himself.

On Clowney's dedication to SC football, Spurrier said: "You'll have to ask him that."

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