Sept. 20, 2012

The University of South Carolina football team practiced Thursday afternoon at the Bluff Road “Proving Grounds.” The seventh-ranked Gamecocks (3-0, 1-0 SEC) are preparing for Saturday’s SEC Eastern Division showdown with the Missouri Tigers (2-1, 0-1 SEC).

Defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward does not believe the Missouri offense is similar in pace to that which East Carolina ran against the Gamecocks earlier this season. “The only similarities in both teams is they’re spread teams,” said Ward. “Missouri is going to be way faster than any team we’ve ever played. They’re going to be snapping it really, really quick. East Carolina was fast, but the pace wasn’t really fast. We’ve had to get guys to understand all week that they’re going to get lined up, and they’re going to come, and they’re going to run play after play after play.”

Missouri has two quarterbacks who could see action on Saturday. “We treat them both the same,” noted Ward. “We’re blessed to have a game, the Arizona State game, to see the backup play, and they run the same offense. They both like running the football and both have strong arms. I think (the backup quarterback) runs the system, maybe not quite as well as (James) Franklin does, but he’s good.”

Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on CBS.