Hanging with Mr. Cooper

Missouri's defense has shadowed opposing receivers before, albeit not often.

The last time cornerback Aarion Penton remembers came in the final regular-season game of 2013, when E.J. Gaines stuck to Texas A&M's all-everything receiver Mike Evans.

In that game, Gaines held Evans to his worst output in his two years playing for the Aggies:

Four catches, eight yards.

Now, the Tigers have another star receiver coming to Columbia on Saturday. South Carolina's Pharoh Cooper is the SEC's only returning 1,000 yard receiver this season, finishing second in the conference a year ago with 69 catches for 1,136 yards and nine touchdowns.

It's been a slow start for Cooper this year, as South Carolina is dealing with quarterback injuries and a struggling offense similar to Missouri. Cooper, a junior, has 17 catches for 220 yards and two scores through four games, his stats also skewed by a one-catch, six-yard day in a blow-out loss to Georgia two weeks ago.

But Cooper is Cooper, and Missouri's defense knows he's the go-to-guy in the Gamecocks' offense.

"To be honest, I think this will be our first challenge with a team with not many good receivers and just one, you know, specifically good receiver," Penton said.

Penton was a freshman in 2013, when Gaines was a stand-out senior. There are some similarities between the two players. Like Penton, Gaines began to play more as a nickel-back in certain situations. That kind of move allows high-level corners to get more involved on each play, as it's harder to avoid a nickel-back who moves around the field than it was when a corner sticks outside on one side or the other.

But, in comparing Gaines' game against Evans to a possible Penton vs. Cooper showdown on Saturday, that's where the comparison ends. Not in terms of Penton's talent compared to Gaines, but in terms of how the Aggies used Evans compared to how Cooper is utilized in the Gamecocks' offense.

"Some offenses hide their guys a little more," cornerbacks coach Cornell Ford said. "Mike Evans was pretty easy. He always lined up on the same side, every single time. That's not real hard to find him, and he's going to be out on the field every single time.

"Some offenses do a better job moving their guys around and that can be a little bit more difficult for a defense because now you have a guy that's knowledgeable to be able to play on the outside, but also be able to go inside and play as well. When you go inside, you're learning rules, really playing like a linebacker at times and that's a lot on a player, at least from what we do. It's a little bit more sometimes than what you want to put on their plate for one game."

Cooper certainly fits into the mold of a do-it-all receiver. He'll line up inside, outside and even as a quarterback in certain situations. He's run the ball 12 times for 81 yards this year, too.

The silver lining for Missouri is that Penton also fits the mold of the type of corner Ford needs in this situation. He can play outside, or in the box as a slot corner, and his ability to be physical doesn't have a big drop-off against the run, when he has to play "like a linebacker."

"You can do a little bit more with him," Ford said. "But even you're limited there, as well. Sometimes they move (Cooper) to the boundary and Aarion's not in the boundary, so in that case, in a situation like that, our WILL or our … dime have to be able to cover him as well. Or a safety."

Whatever the game plan is for trying to slow Cooper, we'll have to wait and see on Saturday. Penton, too, has to wait - although not as long.

"Tomorrow morning, I'll be excited to see what the game plan is," Penton said. "I'd love to be the guy that follows him around the field and plays hip-to-hip coverage."