Missouri on top of division after notching just two SEC wins a year ago
At the beginning of the season, the game in Missouri was just a blip between road games at Arkansas and Tennessee, two places that South Carolina has historically struggled to succeed at.
Now, the Gamecocks first trip to Columbia, Mo. will be the biggest game of the season so far for the team.
A win and South Carolina remains in the picture for a SEC East division title. A loss and they are all but eliminated.
“Missouri is the team that I guess has caught everybody off guard a little bit,” coach Steve Spurrier said. “They weren’t picked to win the east and yet they have a two game lead on all of us right now. They’ve beaten Florida and Georgia obviously and they’re in pretty good shape.”
While the Tigers may have caught everybody by surprise the first half of the season, everyone knows about them now. Missouri is ranked No. 5 in the initial BCS Standings and has an unblemished 7-0 record.
South Carolina and Missouri have faced each other three times and only once in the regular season. That was a 31-10 Gamecock win at Williams-Brice last season. The Tigers came away with wins in both of the bowl matchups to take the 2-1 series lead.
For many players, this is the first time they have been to Missouri and for some, the first time that they have learned about the Tigers.
“I didn’t really know much about (Missouri football),” freshman linebacker Skai Moore said. “This week will be my first week watching any type of film on them … so this is my first week really getting to know about the Tigers.”
Spurrier said he spoke to his team a little bit about the importance of this game, so they know what’s at stake.
The Gamecocks are trying to regroup from a devastating 23-21 last-second loss to Tennessee last week. However, the team knows that they can’t think about the past.
“We didn’t play quite our best last week,” Spurrier said. “Our offense probably had its worst game of the year but give Tennessee credit for playing some dang good defense. We turned it over a couple of times and didn’t get any and they won the game. But that one is history.”
Mistakes, particularly on special teams and defense, finally came back to bite the Gamecocks against the Volunteers. South Carolina has had its share of close calls this season, with five of the seven games it has played being decided by 11 points or less.
But sometimes the breaks don’t come your way in close games and this past Saturday was a result of that.
“One or two plays caused us to lose,” Spurrier said. “We’ve won some games (like Tennessee) this year. We have flirted with disaster several times and it worked out for us. But it didn’t work out the last game.”
The Gamecocks can ill-afford another slow start against the Tigers, particularly in an environment that will be rocking thanks to the newfound success Missouri has had this season.
Despite the Tigers quick rise to fame, players and coaches aren’t surprised that Missouri is where it is.
“They always had the talent to do it, they were just getting used to the SEC,” sophomore linebacker Marcquis Roberts said.
Spurrier added that Missouri has “really come around this year.”
Tigers coach Gary Pinkel, who is in his 13th year at Missouri, has used his recent successful recruiting class to bring the team to where they are now. Wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, who was the No. 1 recruit in the nation a couple of years ago, is a major contributor to the Tiger offense with 451 receiving yards and four touchdowns.
And while starting quarterback James Franklin is out, backup freshman Maty Mauk has come in and proved he is more than capable of leading the team.
Mauk threw for nearly 19,000 yards in his four years of high school and accounted for 278 total touchdowns before taking a redshirt year last season.
In his first start against Florida, Mauk threw for 295 yards and recorded one touchdown and one interception.
So while both teams are without their starting quarterbacks, both also have reliable backups.
Due to the circumstances, this weekend’s game is one that will make or break South Carolina’s season.
“It’s a game that’s going to decide if we’re in the division hunt or not,” Spurrier said. “Simple as that.”