South Carolina Gamecocks Preview - Saint Louis Sports Today

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: NOV 09 South Carolina at Vanderbilt — Photo by Matthew Maxey/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

It’s the mooooooooooooost important game of the year.

Congratulations, Mizzou! You just vanquished an ancient rival that followed you to the SEC! Now what do you get to do?

Well, now you get to play one of the hottest teams in the country. That doubles as one of your most hated conference opponents. On the road.

If Eli Drinkwitz truly believes that his Tigers are a Playoff team then he can’t lose another game, and this matchup in particular would most likely be the best win on the schedule.

So, no pressure.

Here’s the preview I did this summer. Let’s dive into this week’s matchup:

When Missouri Has the Ball

Missouri’s Offense vs. South Carolina’s Defense

As Mizzou fans you’re going to understand this Gamecock team perfectly: they are the 2014 Missouri Tigers. Their defensive line is elite enough that they can keep offenses in check on their own without a ton of input from the back seven. This is the #1 team in the country in blitz down sack rate and #3 team in sacks per drop back and the defensive line is the havoc producer on a defense that needs havoc to win. To defeat the defense you need to have a creative run game that reads the d-line instead of blocks them and, ideally, have schemes that change the guy who is forced to read each play. Unfortunately, Mizzou’s scheme doesn’t really do that and, oh by the way, they’re down their starting center for the rest of the year.

Run The Dang Ball

You neutralize an elite pass rushing defensive line by making them play their run fits, and for all of the great things that Cocky’s 15th ranked defense can do, running success rank ain’t one of them, ranking 72nd with a 43% success rate. As we know Eli and Kirby are content enough to run the ball for an entire half just to set something up in the second half. I wouldn’t suggest waiting that long against this team but I endorse handing it off a billion times. Let’s shoot for at least a 44% success rate on the ground.

Explode Through the Air

South Carolina’s secondary plays super tight to eliminate the quick passing game. The result? 6th in the nation in passes that go for less than zero yards, but also 50th in passes allowed that go for 20+ yards. The takeaway: you can beat them deep and that might be the only way you can do it. It won’t have to be as much but it needs to be something: let’s go for seven explosive pass plays at the end of the game.

FINISH. YOUR. DANG. DRIVES.

We saw how effective finishing your drives can be last week, where two evenly matched teams were separated by how they finished their drives. South Carolina currently ranks 32nd in the nation with 3.7 points allowed per scoring opportunity while Missouri is averaging 3.89. In a game that I figure is going to be decided in the mid-to-high 20s, I’d say Mizzou needs to create 7 scoring opportunities at 3.7 points per opportunity.

When South Carolina Has the Ball

Missouri’s Defense vs. South Carolina’s Offense

Now, the second part of this 2014 Missouri clone is the offense, which – in true Maty Mauk-ian fashion – are big play dealers; if there are big plays they will win, if not they struggle.

Get Sacks

Missouri is benefitting from playing two of the worst offensive lines in terms of sack and pass protection in the nation, back to back. The tackles, in particular, are a liability: freshman 4-star Josiah Thompson has a 5.4% pressure rate and six sacks allowed and his battery mate on the right side, Cason Henry, is right behind him with 4.9% with two sacks allowed. Mizzou absolutely needs to add to that total to keep the deep shot explosive plays at a minimum. Let’s shoot for another three sack night.

Turn Them Over

I feel like this has been a repeat for multiple weeks now but I swear this isn’t laziness. Last week Mizzou played an Oklahoma team that dropped a ton of balls and threw interceptable balls but hadn’t had the consequences of their recklessness hit yet…which Mizzou capitalized on. This week the Tigers play a team that has already given up 14 turnovers in 9 games but also benefited from 19 turnovers recovered. Ball security is a premium, especially since Cocky is going to give the ball to the opposition several times per game. Take advantage and don’t screw up, let’s shoot for another +2 turnover margin.

Conclusion

Eli Drinkwitz has never lost to South Carolina as a head coach and this would not be a great time to stop that streak. However, it’s on the road at a hostile environment against a team that has had everything going right for several weeks now, and has an outside shot at the Playoff… as long as it can beat Mizzou. Both teams should be hungry to win this game and the Mayor’s Trophy and stay nationally relevant for another week… but the road game woes and multiple injuries will make this a tough test for your favorite Columbia-based college football team.