Missouri Tigers football vs. South Carolina: Kickoff time, prediction, streaming info
.JPG "Missouri head coach Eliah Drinkwitz celebrates with wide receiver Tauskie Dove (86) after Missouri beat Vanderbilt 37-28 in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)")
THE DETAILS
Kickoff: 3 p.m. Saturday
Where: Faurot Field, Columbia, Missouri
TV: SEC Network
Radio: KMBZ (98.1 FM)
The line: South Carolina by 1
Mizzou injuries: DB Shawn Robinson, DB Ish Burdine, DL Johnny Walker, out; QB Connor Bazelak, DL Mekhi Wingo, OL Hyrin White, questionable
PREDICTION
Earlier in the week, Missouri was favored at home. Now, South Carolina is ahead in the sports books, at least per the Vegas Insider consensus — some sites say otherwise. That should tell you just how much of a toss-up Saturday’s game is.
A few weeks ago, it didn’t look like the Tigers stood a chance at a bowl game. And though it will still be quite the challenge, they have three more tries to win two games. Of those three, this week’s game against the Gamecocks seems like the most winnable and the most necessary. But South Carolina is coming off a dominant 40-17 win over Florida.
The Gamecocks have averaged 93.0 yards on the ground in their losses compared to 170.2 in their wins, including a season-best 284 rushing yard performance against the Gators. Mizzou showed some improvement in the run game against Georgia, only allowing the Bulldogs 168 rushing yards after allowing most opponents at least 200 in most games this season, though it did come at the cost of 337 passing yards. The Tigers will look to implement a similar strategy this week.
Once again, Mizzou enters this contest with starting quarterback Connor Bazelak listed as questionable on the depth chart. True freshman Tyler Macon started last game against Georgia and split series with redshirt freshman Brady Cook. It’s unclear who will start this week.
But regardless of who is under center, the key to this offense is running back Tyler Badie, and he’ll need to have a strong performance in order for the Tigers to pull out a victory. In the Tigers’ wins, Badie is averaging 186.75 rushing yards compared to 56.6 in their losses.
I am not leaning strongly one way or another in terms of who is going to win this game. It truly does feel like it could swing either way. But the Tigers need it more and have the home advantage, so I’ll give it to them by a field goal.
Missouri 31, South Carolina 28
