After a longer than expected hiatus from Williams-Brice Stadium, the Gamecocks will finally play in front of their own fans.
South Carolina (2-2, 1-2 SEC) will play Missouri (3-1, 0-1 SEC) during Family Weekend. That certainly brings a lot of excitement in its own way, but there will be a lot on the line for the Gamecocks this Saturday, especially given last week’s result.
After a disappointing 24-10 loss to the Kentucky Wildcats, the Gamecocks' fifth loss in a row to the Wildcats, there is a lot of chatter about the South Carolina football program. Head coach Will Muschamp and the Gamecocks hope to silence some of that noise when the Missouri Tigers come to town.
Muschamp said that the Tigers “got a good football team” and that they have offensive weapons all over the field capable of high-tempo offensive schemes, especially at quarterback.
“We need to be out in full force," Muschamp said at Tuesday’s press conference. “They got a really good offensive football team. [Missouri quarterback] Drew Lock can make all the throws. When we faced him the last two years, he’s a outstanding player.”
In four games this year, Lock has thrown for 1,283 yards, which gives him the distinction of having the second-most passing yards in the SEC, behind Ole Miss quarterback Jordan Ta’amu.
Lock has also completed 101 of 161 throwing attempts, giving him a 62.7 completion percentage.
Regardless, the Gamecocks will need to eliminate the kinds of mental errors that cost them the game against Kentucky. South Carolina has a great opportunity to turn its season around after a somewhat disappointing September, and that starts with doing what it needs to do against the Missouri Tigers.
“We need to, as a team, do the simple things better,” said Muschamp. “Whether it’s catching the football, whether it's holding onto the ball ... let’s do simple better.”
The good news for the Gamecock defense is that even though Missouri is an up-tempo team, so is South Carolina, junior linebacker T.J. Brunson told the media.
“You’re used to the speed and everything,” said Brunson. “Our guys are working it pretty well, so I’m sure those guys will be just as fast, if not faster. We’ve seen it before.”
The Gamecocks hope to eliminate those mistakes and stop a fast-tempo Missouri offense this Saturday in front of their home crowd in the first game at Williams-Brice Stadium in over a month. Kickoff is set for noon and those not in Columbia can see the game on the SEC Network.