South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer has never defeated Missouri in his first three seasons, having lost by a combined 38 points in the three losses.
When asked if there were consistent themes in those games, Beamer said: “I would say they’ve kicked our butts, physically, just to be completely frank.”
The No. 21 Gamecocks (6-3, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) hope to reverse that trend Saturday when they host the No. 23 Tigers (7-2, 3-2) in Columbia, S.C. Both teams will try to keep their longshot College Football Playoff hopes alive.
South Carolina hit its stride during the stretch run, rolling to lopsided victories at Oklahoma (35-9), 44-20 over Texas A&M and at Vanderbilt (28-7).
The Gamecocks are bowl-bound for the third time in Beamer’s tenure and are seeking their first winning record in SEC play since 2017.
“No one else did, I realize that, but this group had very high expectations for themselves going in 2024,” Beamer said. “It’s good to see that we’ve been able to accomplish a lot of things already, but there’s still a lot more for us to accomplish.”
In their last two games, the Gamecocks gained 982 yards of total offense while averaging 7.28 yards per play. Running back Raheim “Rocket” Sanders rushed for 270 yards in those games while quarterback LaNorris Sellers passed for 482 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 144 yards and a touchdown.
The Tigers rebounded from their 34-0 loss at Alabama to defeat Oklahoma, 30-23. Backup quarterback Drew Pyne played for Brady Cook, who has been sidelined by a high-ankle sprain and a wrist or hand injury on his throwing arm. Pyne completed just 14 of 23 passes for 143 yards, but he threw three touchdown passes as Missouri prevailed with just 278 yards offense.
“We have a lot of confidence in Drew, and whoever gives us the best opportunity to win is who we’re going to play,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “And we won’t know anything on Brady till later in the week, but … we’ll prepare for Drew to be the starter.”
Beamer tried to recruit Pyne out of high school while he was an assistant at Oklahoma. Pyne went to Notre Dame, then Arizona State and Missouri instead.
“He’s tough, competitive, athletic and can make throws,” Beamer said. “You see him get better with experience as well.”
Missouri top running back Nate Noel was limited to 10 carries for 31 yards against OU due to his lingering foot injury. Jamal Roberts and Marcus Carroll carried the bulk of the workload against the Sooners, combining for 26 carries.
The Tigers have suffered major hits on the offensive line. Starting center Connor Tollison suffered a season-ending knee injury against Oklahoma and right guard Cayden Green has been limited during the last two weeks by a right leg injury. Drake Heismeyer is likely to take over at center and Mitchell Walters is likely to fill in for Green.
“There’s a chemistry aspect of offense that’s disrupted when you know you’ve got the center and the quarterback that are going to be new,” Drinkwitz said. “But I think everybody’s got to do their job, have each other’s backs and know that there’s going to be some issues that we’ve got to work through and not get too high or too low about.”
–Field Level Media