Mizzou football’s game vs. South Carolina features an eye on COVID, a fired coach
When the Missouri Tigers and the host South Carolina Gamecocks clash at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, both sidelines will have different coaches from last year.
Out with Barry Odom and Will Muschamp, in with MU’s Eliah Drinkwitz and USC’s Mike Bobo.
The situations are different, of course. Drinkwitz is in his first season and he was hired nearly a year ago to lead MU’s program. Bobo is South Carolina’s interim coach and his first full day was Monday after South Carolina fired Muschamp.
Both programs are also in varying levels of disorder — one side reminiscent of 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic; the other, not so much.
The Tigers had their Georgia game postponed last week as the virus and contact tracing whittled their defensive linemen below the positional threshold. MU still conducted practices and had a mock game over the weekend, which the Tigers could do because there was no team-wide coronavirus outbreak.
As of Monday afternoon, the upcoming game at South Carolina is expected to be played. But that’s pending further COVID-19 testing, and it takes only one positive test to create further problems.
South Carolina faces non-coronavirus turmoil, firing Muschamp, who was in his fifth season and compiled a 28-30 record. After a solid start to his tenure, Muschamp’s teams slowly disappointed — similar to this year’s Gamecocks squad.
USC opened 2020 going 2-2 and looked to be on the upswing after an upset victory over ranked Auburn. Then the Gamecocks lost three straight, including putrid defensive performances that ultimately cost Muschamp his job.
Bobo, who was last head coach at Colorado State from 2015-19, will serve as interim coach.
“My biggest job is morale,” Bobo said at a news conference Monday. “Getting these guys ready to play, play for each other and play for South Carolina. We’ve got an unbelievable staff on both sides of the ball that are good football coaches.”
As South Carolina reels amid a temporary coaching change, it marks an opportunity for Drinkwitz’s squad. The Tigers are betting favorites in a game for the first time in 2020 as the schedule opens up with lesser opponents down the stretch.
USC was also projected to finish fifth in the SEC East to Mizzou’s sixth-place spot in the preseason media poll. The perception has now flipped as the Tigers (2-3) have been a pleasant surprise while the Gamecocks (2-5) are tumbling.
The Gamecocks are still sifting through the sudden change; Bobo said he hasn’t watched any film on Mizzou’s defense as of Monday morning. Normally they’d be halfway through the game plan by then, he said.
That’s the opposite of a Mizzou program that had the weekend off because of the postponed game, giving Drinkwitz even more time to prep for South Carolina.
Each team faces questions coming in. USC has been putrid defensively, allowing 53 points per game during its losing streak, a significant reason why Muschamp was fired.