First look: Top story lines, betting odds for South Carolina vs Missouri football game
South Carolina football hits the road for the last time in the 2021 regular season as it travels to face its last SEC East opponent, the Missouri Tigers, in the other Columbia — Columbia, Missouri.
The Gamecocks routed Florida following their bye week, sending Dan Mullen’s Gators back to Gainesville with a 40-17 loss and inching within one victory of bowl eligibility in Shane Beamer’s first year as head coach. Missouri returns to Faurot Field after suffering a 43-6 loss to Georgia in Athens last week.
South Carolina could even the series record against Missouri with a win on Saturday, as the Tigers currently hold the matchup with a 6-5 overall record. Mizzou has taken the last two meetings, leaving Williams-Brice Stadium last season with a 17-10 win on Nov. 21, 2020.
How to watch South Carolina vs Missouri football game
Who: South Carolina Gamecocks (5-4, 2-4 SEC) at Missouri Tigers (4-5, 1-4 SEC)
Where: Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium (62,621) in Columbia, MO
When: 4 p.m. Saturday
TV: SEC Network
This week’s SEC betting odds, TV times
The Gamecocks opened a 3-point underdog to Missouri on the road, but the line has since moved to 1 point in favor of the Tigers.
SEC point spreads this week
College football point spreads, according to VegasInsider.com
- Noon: New Mexico State at Alabama (-50)
- Noon: Mississippi State at Auburn (-4)
- Noon: Samford at Florida (-31.5)*
- 3:30 p.m.: Georgia (-20.5) at Tennessee
- 4 p.m.: South Carolina at Missouri (-1)
- 7 p.m.: Texas A&M (-2.5) at Ole Miss
- 7 p.m.: Kentucky (-19) at Vanderbilt
- 7:30 p.m.: Arkansas (-2) at LSU
* Line according to Odds Shark.
The state of the Gamecocks
South Carolina is coming off of a statement win in the first year of the Beamer era, defeating Florida handily 40-17 at Williams-Brice Stadium.
It appears the off week between the Texas A&M thrashing (44-14 loss in College Station) and the Florida victory did wonders for the Gamecocks’ offensive progression, as Jason Brown took the reins at quarterback and led the way to South Carolina’s most productive week in total offense (459 yards) and rushing yards (284).
Pair that performance with a season-best effort with rush defense, limited a typically prolific Florida ground game to 82 yards on 26 attempts, another positive day in the turnover battle (recovered fumble for a touchdown and an interception) and just a single penalty for the day, and the Gamecocks could be peaking late.
South Carolina needs just one more win in its final three games — against either Missouri, Auburn or Clemson — to make it to a bowl game in Beamer’s first season.
The state of the Missouri Tigers
The status of Missouri quarterback Connor Bazelak is unknown following an injury that saw the Tigers’ sophomore starter miss their last game at Georgia. Second-year head coach Eliah Drinkwitz opted to split time between Bazelak’s two backups, Tyler Macon and Brady Cook, to little avail in a 43-6 defeat by the No. 1 team in the nation.
The Tigers’ offense isn’t exactly prolific, ranked toward the mid tier of the SEC in yards per game, but Missouri’s true struggles have been with its ailing defense, which allows nearly 500 yards per game and sees opponents score 36.8 points on average.
Missouri’s rush defense has been especially anemic, ranked at the bottom of the conference allowing 271 yards each week. The Tigers have only held three of their nine opponents to less than 250 yards on the ground — Central Michigan, North Texas and (ironically) Georgia.
Missouri is at the bottom of the SEC East, above just a 2-7 Vanderbilt team, and needs to come up with two wins across games against South Carolina, Florida and Arkansas to reach a bowl berth.
3 Mizzou players to watch
Tauskie Dove, WR: Dove has explosive play potential and has hauled in at least one reception of 10 yards or more in every Missouri game this season. He’s totaled 30 catches for 454 yards this year and averages 15.1 yards per reception, making the 6-foot-2 wideout a formidable matchup for the Gamecocks’ secondary.
Jaylon Carlies, DB: Carlies is a turnover machine for the Tigers, coming up with four interceptions and a forced fumble this season. The 6-foot-3 sophomore safety is tied for third in the country in total interceptions (second in the SEC behind South Carolina’s Jaylan Foster) and was one of the lone bright spots in Missouri’s most recent loss at Georgia, intercepting Bulldog quarterback J.T. Daniels and coming up with a team-leading 10 tackles in Athens.
Tyler Badie, RB: Badie’s production was stifled in Missouri’s last game against Georgia, but the senior will be looking to replicate the performances he had against Central Michigan (203 yards on 25 carries), North Texas (209 yards on 17 carries) and Vanderbilt (254 yards on 31 carries). Badie has already eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing in 2021 and adds another 315 yards on 45 receptions. He’s the 10th most productive rusher in the country and ranks first in the SEC.
This story was originally published November 8, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
