Missouri-South Carolina college football preview
When/where: 6 p.m. Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C.
TV/radio: ESPN; WDAF (106.5 FM)
The series: Tied 2-2
The line: South Carolina by 5
MISSOURI (3-1, 0-0 SEC)
Date | Opponent | Result/time |
Aug. 30 | South Dakota State | W, 38-18 |
Sept. 6 | at Toledo | W, 49-24 |
Sept. 13 | Central Florida | W, 38-10 |
Sept. 20 | Indiana | L, 31-27 |
Saturday | at South Carolina | 6 p.m. |
Oct. 11 | Georgia | TBA |
Oct. 18 | at Florida | TBA |
Oct. 25 | Vanderbilt | TBA |
Nov. 1 | Kentucky | TBA |
Nov. 15 | at Texas A&M | TBA |
Nov. 22 | at Tennessee | TBA |
Nov. 28 | Arkansas | 1:30 p.m. |
SOUTH CAROLINA (3-1, 2-1 SEC)
Date | Opponent | Result/time |
Aug. 28 | Texas A&M | L, 52-28 |
Sept. 6 | East Carolina | W, 33-23 |
Sept. 13 | Georgia | W, 38-35 |
Sept. 20 | at Vanderbilt | W, 48-34 |
Saturday | Missouri | 6 p.m. |
Oct. 4 | at Kentucky | 6:30 p.m. |
Oct. 18 | Furman | TBA |
Oct. 25 | at Auburn | TBA |
Nov. 1 | Tennessee | TBA |
Nov. 15 | at Florida | TBA |
Nov. 22 | South Alabama | TBA |
Nov. 29 | at Clemson | TBA |
What’s at stake
A 1-0 start in SEC play and, essentially, a three-game lead on South Carolina in the East division race. The Gamecocks are playing their fourth conference game and, after a season-opening loss to Texas A&M, have rallied to beat Georgia and Vanderbilt. The Tigers have won six straight road games.
Cheers if …
Missouri gets its run game on track. The Tigers shuffled the offensive line after losing senior left guard Anthony Gatti to a season-ending knee injury. Junior Brad McNulty steps in for him with junior Connor McGovern moving from right tackle to guard and Taylor Chappell joining the starting lineup at right tackle.
Jeers if …
Missouri’s defense continues to cough up big plays and the Tigers aren’t competitive against South Carolina. The Gamecocks, who are the only SEC East team Missouri hasn’t beaten since joining the conference, put it on coach Gary Pinkel’s squad 31-10 in the last meeting at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Three things about South Carolina
1 Senior quarterback Dylan Thompson used last season’s Missouri game, when he was pulled in the third quarter for a sick and injured Connor Shaw, as a springboard to improve. He’s off to a solid start this season, completing 88 of 142 (62.0 percent) for 1,140 yards with 11 touchdowns and three interceptions.
2 Junior running back Mike Davis, who has been nicked up since preseason camp, hasn’t been as explosive as expected behind an offensive line that’s been less dominant than expected. He’s averaging 4.6 yards per carry, well below his 5.5-yard career average. Davis gashed Missouri in the screen game last season.
3 South Carolina is tied for 101st among 128 Football Bowl Subdivision teams with only four sacks this season. The Gamecocks have averaged nearly 2.5 sacks per game since 2008 with 197 during the last six seasons.
Key matchup
Quarterback Maty Mauk vs. South Carolina’s secondary. Missouri is struggling with the run game and breaking in a new-look offensive line. It’s imperative that Mauk take advantage of the Gamecocks’ secondary, which ranks 116th with a 151.7 opponents passer rating and has allowed 34 passing plays of 15 yards or more, tied for most in the nation.
MISSOURI OFFENSE
P | No. | Player | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. |
WR | 21 | Bud Sasser | 6-2 | 220 | Sr. |
WR | 88 | Jimmie Hunt | 6-0 | 205 | Sr. |
LT | 65 | Mitch Morse | 6-6 | 305 | Sr. |
LG | 63 | Brad McNulty | 6-4 | 305 | Jr. |
C | 77 | Evan Boehm | 6-3 | 320 | Jr. |
RG | 60 | Connor McGovern | 6-4 | 300 | Jr. |
RT | 62 | Taylor Chappell | 6-5 | 300 | Jr. |
TE | 80 | Sean Culkin | 6-6 | 245 | So. |
WR | 18 | Wesley Leftwich | 6-1 | 200 | Jr. |
QB | 7 | Maty Mauk | 6-0 | 195 | So. |
TB | 32 | Russell Hansbrough | 5-9 | 190 | Jr. |
K | 99 | Andrew Baggett | 6-1 | 215 | Jr. |
MISSOURI DEFENSE
P | No. | Player | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. |
DE | 33 | Markus Golden | 6-3 | 260 | Sr. |
DT | 90 | Harold Brantley | 6-3 | 280 | So. |
NG | 96 | Lucas Vincent | 6-2 | 300 | Sr. |
DE | 56 | Shane Ray | 6-3 | 245 | Jr. |
LB | 10 | Kentrell Brothers | 6-1 | 240 | Jr. |
LB | 30 | Michael Scherer | 6-3 | 230 | So. |
LB | 40 | Clarence Green | 6-0 | 225 | Jr. |
CB | 7 | Kenya Dennis | 6-0 | 195 | Jr. |
SS | 9 | Braylon Webb | 6-0 | 200 | Sr. |
FS | 21 | Ian Simon | 6-0 | 195 | Jr. |
CB | 11 | Aarion Penton | 5-10 | 185 | So. |
P | 92 | Christian Brinser | 6-2 | 195 | Sr. |
SOUTH CAROLINA OFFENSE
P | No. | Player | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. |
WR | 4 | Shaq Roland | 6-1 | 176 | Jr. |
WR | 11 | Pharoh Cooper | 5-11 | 201 | So. |
LT | 53 | Corey Robinson | 6-8 | 344 | Sr. |
LG | 50 | A.J. McCann | 6-4 | 311 | Sr. |
C | 70 | Alan Knott | 6-4 | 280 | Fr. |
RG | 51 | Cody Waldrop | 6-2 | 309 | So. |
RT | 71 | Brandon Shell | 6-6 | 333 | Jr. |
TE | 81 | Rory Anderson | 6-5 | 227 | Sr. |
WR | 3 | Nick Jones | 5-7 | 168 | Sr. |
QB | 17 | Dylan Thompson | 6-3 | 218 | Sr. |
TB | 28 | Mike Davis | 5-9 | 223 | Jr. |
K | 29 | Elliott Fry | 6-0 | 165 | So. |
SOUTH CAROLINA DEFENSE
P | No. | Player | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. |
DE | 44 | Gerald Dixon | 6-2 | 274 | So. |
DT | 97 | J.T. Surratt | 6-2 | 310 | Sr. |
DT | 92 | Gerald Dixon Jr. | 6-3 | 323 | Jr. |
DE | 5 | Darius English | 6-6 | 241 | So. |
MLB | 8 | Kaiwan Lewis | 6-0 | 228 | Jr. |
WLB | 10 | Skai Moore | 6-2 | 213 | So. |
SPR | 9 | Sharrod Golightly | 5-10 | 187 | Sr. |
CB | 31 | Al Harris Jr. | 5-11 | 162 | Fr. |
SS | 12 | Brison Williams | 5-11 | 208 | Sr. |
FS | 20 | T.J. Gurley | 5-10 | 194 | Jr. |
CB | 1 | Rico McWilliams | 5-11 | 184 | So. |
P | 13 | Tyler Hull | 6-2 | 207 | Sr. |
Tod Palmer’s pick: South Carolina 38-30
It wouldn’t be shocking for Missouri to knock off South Carolina, but it’s a tall order on the road with a re-shuffled offensive line and without senior wide receiver Darius White. As much motivation as the Tigers take from last season’s loss, the Gamecocks have just as much from finishing second in the SEC East.
Tod Palmer, tpalmer@kcstar.com
This story was originally published September 25, 2014 at 12:49 PM with the headline "Missouri-South Carolina college football preview."