Both teams will be seeking their first conference win of the season in this week’s SEC clash between the Missouri Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks. The action gets started at 4:00 EST on Saturday, September 21 at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri. Fans can watch the game on the SEC Network.
Currently, the Tigers are listed as 9.5-point favorites at home with an over/under of 63.5 points. Click here to check out a full list of this week’s college football betting odds.
The Tigers have done a nice job of bouncing back from a puzzling loss to Wyoming in their season opener. Missouri showed no ill effects of that upset loss the following week when they thrashed West Virginia 38-7. It was more of the same last week when the Tigers beat FCS opponent SE Missouri State 50-0.
Of course, Saturday’s game with South Carolina marks the start of SEC play. Missouri’s schedule appears to be rather manageable until the calendar flips to November, so the Tigers would be wise to take advantage. Barry Odom’s team also has three games left in what is a five-game homestand. Plus, they clearly have a lot of positive momentum after blowout wins the past two weeks.
Meanwhile, South Carolina is trying to recover quickly after last week’s 47-23 loss to Alabama. For what it’s worth, the Gamecocks beat the spread with a late touchdown. However, Will Muschamp’s team also sits at 1-2 after losing their season opener to North Carolina. They are also breaking in a freshman quarterback in Ryan Hilinski after Jake Bentley suffered a season-ending injury.
Even in late September, this could be a must-win game for the Gamecocks. Despite playing Alabama last week, South Carolina still has four more games against teams that are currently ranked, including three top-10 teams. If the Gamecocks don’t pull an upset against one of those ranked teams, they must win their five remaining games in order to become bowl eligible. To put it another way, a loss to Missouri would be a disaster for South Carolina.
The good news for the Gamecocks is that they’ve beaten Missouri in each of the last three years. South Carolina has actually won five of the seven head-to-head meetings with the Tigers since Missouri joined the SEC. Of course, last year’s game was a close 37-35 game, so there might not be much to separate these two teams.
South Carolina’s need for a win could play to their advantage this week. I think the Gamecocks will be quick to lick their wounds after last week’s loss to Alabama and leave everything on the field against the Tigers. After last year’s back-and-forth affair between these teams, covering 9.5 points feels like a lot. I’ll take my chances with a close game that’s decided by less than 10 points.
The Gamecocks will be kicking themselves for losing their season opener to North Carolina all season, but they haven’t let that disappointment bring them down. They stayed competitive with Alabama last week well into the third quarter. They actually ran the ball better than Alabama, which is not something most teams can say. That tells me a lot about the Gamecocks both on offense and defense.
Missouri, to their credit, has shut down the running game the past couple of weeks. But the Tigers were shredded on the ground in their loss to Wyoming. That’s a concern for me against South Carolina, who has rushed the ball effectively all season, even in their losses. Rico Dowdle and Tavien Feaster make up one of the more underrated running back tandems in the SEC. Both are experienced backs who should help set the tone for the South Carolina offense against Missouri.
Meanwhile, the Gamecocks will feel good about how Hilinski has played early in his career. Most quarterbacks don’t have to face Alabama in their second career start, much less do it as a true freshman. Hilinski handled himself well, only throwing one interception and taking three sacks despite dropping back 60 times. After that experience, he shouldn’t be fazed by going on the road for the first time.
Of course, Missouri is led by a veteran quarterback in Clemson grad transfer Kelly Bryant. On paper, Bryant has played well, as the Tigers have scored at least 31 points in every game. The running back duo of Larry Roundtree and Tyler Badie has also excelled early in the year. But I have to question the defenses they’ve faced, especially compared to the South Carolina defense. I don’t put too much stock in the Gamecocks getting lit up by Tua Tagavailoa; most teams will have that problem when facing Alabama. I think the South Carolina defense can slow down the Missouri running game and take the Tigers out of rhythm on that side of the ball.
As impressive as Missouri has looked the past two weeks, I think the Gamecocks are the more battle-tested team, and that will pay dividends for South Carolina in this game. To be fair, the Tigers are the more explosive team offensively, which is why they’ll be tough to beat at home. But I think the South Carolina defense will stand tall and Hilinski will do enough to keep the Gamecocks close enough to at least beat the spread.