Gamecocks Host Missouri in Top-25 Matchup Saturday

It’s a top-25 matchup when the No. 23/23 South Carolina Gamecocks (6-3, 4-3 SEC) wrap up their regular season SEC slate this week by hosting the No. 24/21 Missouri Tigers (7-2, 3-2 SEC) on Saturday, Nov. 16. Game time is set for 4:15 pm ET at Williams-Brice Stadium (77,559) in Columbia, S.C.  

TROPHY HUNTING: The winner of the South Carolina – Missouri football contest takes possession of the Mayor’s Cup, a trophy that goes to the winning team of the two SEC schools that call Columbia home. The Mayor’s Cup is one of three “trophy games” for South Carolina this season. They have already captured the Bonham Trophy for their win over Texas A&M and wrap up the regular season with the Palmetto Bowl trophy on the line when they travel to Clemson. South Carolina has never captured all three trophies in the same season.

OVER THE AIRWAVES: This week’s contest will be televised on the SEC Network. Tom Hart will handle the play-by-play with Jordan Rodgers providing the color commentary. Cole Cubelic will patrol the sidelines. ESPN Radio will also have a national audience with Mike Couzens calling the action and Max Starks working as the analyst. Mike Peasley serves as the sideline reporter. The Gamecock Sports Radio Network features a pair of Gamecock Great quarterbacks in play-by-play voice Todd Ellis (33rd season) and analyst Tommy Suggs (52nd season). Chet Tucker is back for his second year as the sideline reporter.

HOW WE GOT THIS FAR: The Gamecocks are 6-3 overall and own a 4-3 mark in SEC play. All three of South Carolina’s losses have come to ranked opponents with two of setbacks not decided until the game’s final play. They opened the campaign with a hard-fought 23-19 win over Old Dominion, then dominated Kentucky in the SEC opener, winning by a 31-6 count in Lexington. The Gamecocks were unable to hold onto a 17-0 first half lead in a heartbreaking 36-33 setback to No. 16/17 LSU, then bounced back with a convincing 50-7 rout of Akron to improve to 3-1. The Gamecocks dropped their next two contests to highly-ranked opponents, coming up on the short end of a 27-3 decision to No. 12/11 Ole Miss in Columbia, then suffering another gut wrenching defeat in a 27-25 loss at No. 7/7 Alabama in Tuscaloosa. They have responded with three-straight conference wins, first a convincing 35-9 dismantling of Oklahoma in Norman then, after an off week, scoring the game’s final 27 points in a 44-20 win over No. 10/11 Texas A&M. They recorded their third-straight win and their second-straight win over a ranked opponent last week with a 28-7 drubbing at Vanderbilt to become bowl eligible for the third time in four years under head coach Shane Beamer. South Carolina and Louisville are the only three-loss teams in the country with a perfect record vs. opponents ranked outside the current AP Top-25.

IN THE RANKINGS: With three-straight wins, South Carolina has moved into the top 25 in both the Associated Press and Coaches’ polls this week, checking in at No. 23 in both polls. It’s the first time the Gamecocks have been ranked in the A.P. poll since the final poll following the 2022 season when they were ranked 23rd. They have been ranked in the A.P.’s final poll 10 times in their history.

WHAT’S AT STAKE: It’s the annual battle for the Mayor’s Cup, as the two SEC schools that call Columbia home are set to play for the silver trophy, presented to the winning team.

CAROLINA VS. MIZZOU: Missouri has won the last five meetings to take a 9-5 lead in the all-time series with South Carolina. The teams have split six games in South Carolina evenly while the Tigers have won four of the six games in their home state.  Mizzou also owns a pair of neutral site bowl game wins (the 1979 Hall of Fame Bowl and the 2005 Independence Bowl) over Carolina.

IT JUST MEANS MORE: Since Mizzou joined the SEC, the Tigers own a slim 7-5 advantage in the series. South Carolina won the first two SEC Eastern Division battles between the two schools, posting a 31-10 win in the Palmetto State in 2012, then pulling out an improbable 27-24 double-overtime victory in Missouri in 2013. In 2014, the Tigers overcame a 13-point deficit in the final seven minutes to squeeze out a 21-20 victory at Williams-Brice Stadium, then won by a 24-10 count at Memorial Stadium in 2015. The Gamecocks then won three-straight games from 2016-18 by scores of 31-21, 31-13 and 37-35, respectively. The Tigers have rebounded with five-straight wins of their own by scores of 34-14, 17-10, 31-28, 23-10 and 34-12.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET: After a quick three-and-out on its first possession, 20th-ranked Missouri scored three touchdowns and added a field goal on its next four possessions to open up a 24-3 halftime advantage en route to a 34-12 win over the Gamecocks in Columbia, Mo. on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, securing the Mayor’s Cup for a fifth-consecutive year. It was the largest margin of victory in the series for either team. The Gamecocks had several scoring opportunities, getting into the red zone four times, but had to settle for a career-high four field goals from placekicker Mitch Jeter.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET HERE: No. 25/25 South Carolina struggled to get anything going on either side of the ball in a 23-10 home loss to Missouri in the annual battle for the Mayor’s Cup on Oct. 29, 2022. After a quick three-and-out on its first drive, Missouri put together three-straight drives that went 15 plays and 96 yards for a touchdown; 10 plays and 84 yards for a touchdown, and 10 plays and 75 yards for a field goal, to open up a 17-0 advantage and the Tigers never looked back. Mizzou tallied 367 yards of offense, (just 113 after intermission), to 203 for Carolina and held the ball for 36:35 of the game. Brady Cook was 17-for-26 for 224 yards passing and added 53 yards on the ground on 11 carries for Mizzou. Spencer Rattler completed 20-of-30 passes for 171 yards for the Gamecocks. The loss snapped a Carolina four-game winning streak.

THE LAST GAMECOCK WIN: In what has become known in South Carolina as the “Michael Scarnecchia Game,” the Gamecocks’ backup quarterback threw for three touchdowns in his only collegiate start and Parker White hit the game-winning 33-yard field goal with two seconds left to lift Carolina to a 37-35 victory over Missouri on Oct. 6, 2018 in Columbia, S.C. The Tigers had gone ahead 35-34 on Tucker McCann’s career-long 57-yard field goal with 1:18 remaining, but Scarnecchia and the Gamecocks drove to the Missouri 16 where White nailed his third field goal of the game. The Gamecocks rallied from a 23-14 halftime deficit in a game that lasted more than five hours due to rain and lightning delays. Scarnecchia completed 20-of-35 passes for 249 yards. Missouri’s Drew Lock, the SEC’s passing leader, was held to 204 yards.

BLACKJACK FOR THE WIN: The Gamecocks are 5-2 against the Tigers when scoring 21 or more points. They are winless in seven games when scoring 20 or fewer, including four of the last five contests.

OLD FRIEND ALERT: Marcy Girton holds the title of Missouri’s Deputy Athletics Director/Chief Operating Officer/Senior Woman Administrator. Girton was the Chief Operating Officer at the University of South Carolina from 2008-2012.