Schedule breakdown: South Carolina
We are about three months away from the start of the college football season, and while there are still several questions that need to be answered before Missouri kicks off its 2019 campaign (such as clearing up whether the team will be allowed to play in the postseason this year), it’s never too early to start taking a look at the schedule. In this series, we are going game-by-game to break down the Tigers' slate. We decided to skip the Southeast Missouri State matchup in Week Three because, well, if Missouri loses that one, the program might as well be shut down. So today we look at the Week Four matchup against South Carolina.
2018 season
Record: 7-6
Against Mizzou: Won 37-35
Key losses: WR Deebo Samuel, RB Ty’Son Williams, OT Dennis Daley, S Steven Montac, CB Kaisean Nixon
Key returners: QB Jake Bentley, RB Rico Dowdle, WR Bryan Edwards, WR Shi Smith, DT Jevon Kinlaw, LB T.J. Brunson
Quick Look
After winning eight games in 2017, expectations were high for head coach Will Muschamp’s third season at South Carolina. While the Gamecocks made it back to the postseason last year, the 7-6 campaign was a tad underwhelming as a whole, especially considering its bitter ending: a 28-0 loss to Virginia in the Belk Bowl. However, South Carolina did beat Missouri at home in a bizarre contest that featured torrential rainfall, a lightning delay, multiple botched special teams plays and a controversial replay review. The Tigers will surely be looking for revenge this season.
South Carolina returns the majority of its offensive weapons from last season, including three-year starting quarterback Jake Bentley. Missouri didn’t face Bentley last season, as he missed the contest with injury. He completed 61.9 percent of his passes for 27 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in all last season. Bentley will be joined by the Gamecocks’ leading rusher from last season, Rico Dowdle. Running the ball more effectively will no doubt be a focus for the team this season after it ranked No. 92 nationally in rushing offense a year ago. The major loss on the offensive side of the ball will be do-everything receiver Deebo Samuel. Samuel caught 62 passes for 882 yards and 11 touchdowns a season ago. In his prolific college career, he caught 16 touchdowns, rushed for seven scored, threw for one and returned four kickoffs for touchdowns. Bryan Edwards, who also topped 800 yards receiving last season and caught two touchdowns against Missouri, and Shi Smith will now anchor the receiving corps.
The biggest need for improvement for South Carolina comes on the defensive side of the ball, where the Gamecocks allowed nearly 425 yards per game last season. That ranked No. 82 in the country. South Carolina’s defense was particularly vulnerable to the run, allowing more than 195 yards per game on the ground. Expect Muschamp, a defensive-minded head coach, to make that his primary focus during the offseason.
Players to watch
1. Jake Bentley, QB
Any quarterback who has started for nearly three full seasons in the SEC clearly has some talent, and Bentley is no exception. However, he has been inconsistent throughout his career, and for the most part, when he as struggled, the team has struggled. Last season, Bentley had three games in which he completed less than 50 percent of his passes. Against Kentucky, he went 13-for-28 and threw one touchdown and three interceptions. In a home loss to Texas A&M, he went 17-for-35, albeit for three scores and just one pick. He had perhaps his worst performance in the Belk Bowl, completing 17 of 39 passes and throwing two interceptions and no touchdowns. (In South Carolina’s other three losses, a home matchup against Georgia and road contests with Florida and Clemson, it was simply overmatched.) Missouri’s pass defense will almost certainly be the x-factor that determines how far the Tigers can go this season. Given that Bentley is similarly important to South Carolina’s success, that will be the matchup to watch.
2. Bryan Edwards, WR
Missouri fans will be very glad to no longer have to see Samuel in a Gamecock uniform. That said, the Tigers got acquainted with another big-time receiving threat last season in Edwards. Edwards is a different type of player than the speedy, shifty Samuel. He’s a bigger body who can make contested catches in traffic, as he did multiple times in his seven-catch, two-touchdown performance against Missouri last season. As we just laid out, the matchup of South Carolina’s passing offense against Missouri’s pass defense will likely determine the winner of this one, and Edwards is poised to be the Gamecocks’ clear No. 1 receiver this season. Shut him down and the Tigers will have a much better chance of rattling Bentley.
3. Javon Kinlaw, DT
Missouri is going to look to run the ball early and often all season, and that should be especially true against South Carolina. As mentioned above, the Gamecocks struggled to defend the run last season. In order to do that, however, the Tigers will need to make sure to block Kinlaw. A potential first-round draft pick, Kinlaw received the highest grade of any player on the South Carolina defense from Pro Football Focus last season. He tied for the team lead in sacks and recorded 30 tackles on the year. He’s the type of large, athletic interior lineman who, if given a favorable matchup, could wreck an offensive gameplan.
Summary
Missouri’s loss to South Carolina a season ago was one of the more painful defeats in recent memory (although it was arguably topped by the late collapse against Kentucky later in the season). It was also the Tigers’ third consecutive loss to the Gamecocks. The team will surely downplay it, but it should have a little extra motivation for the matchup. South Carolina is certainly talented enough to beat Missouri if the Tigers play sloppy or if Bentley gets hot, but since this game will be played at home, it’s one of the matchups the Tigers will need to win if this season is going to live up to the billing.
Missouri's full 2019 schedule
8/31: at Wyoming (Read our preview here.)
9/7: West Virginia (Preview)
9/14: Southeast Missouri State
9/21: South Carolina
10/5: Troy
10/12: Ole Miss
10/19: at Vanderbilt
10/26: at Kentucky
11/9: at Georgia
11/16: Florida
11/23: Tennessee
11/29: at Arkansas*
* Game will be played in Little Rock