Lets be honest, this season has not gone how South Carolina planned for it to go. With a disappointing 2-2 start, including a disappointing loss to Vanderbilt and Missouri, the Gamecocks seem desperate for anything positive to happen. Kentucky visiting Williams-Brice Stadium this weekend may be the catalyst for a resurgence in their season.
Make no mistakes about it, Kentucky won’t go down without a fight. The Wildcats come into this matchup with a 2-1 record and close loss to top 25 Ole Miss at home. Kentucky also sees this as an opportunity to turn their season around by beating up on the Gamecocks in Columbia. Their running game has been excellent this season, totaling 644 yards and 9 touchdowns on the ground. On the other hand, their passing attack has been lackluster, using two QBs so far this season, only totaling just over 500 yards passing and 2 TDs.
If South Carolina wants to win this game, the Gamecocks must stop the run, which they have proven they are unable to do through 4 contests. This game is due or die for the season, if the Gamecocks cannot beat this Kentucky team, I highly doubt they can beat any SEC opponent. Its time to see if this team has the desire to win this game and prove everyone wrong.
Throughout the week, I have become less confident in the Gamecocks ability to win this game, I just cannot imagine them stopping the run. Kentucky’s Seth McGovern has been excellent this year on the ground, and with being unable to stop Missouri on the ground last weekend, I see more of the same.
Editor’s Pick
30-24 Kentucky wins in OT.
Check back in on Monday to see my reaction to this weekends game.
The Gamecocks arrived back in Columbia, SC early Sunday morning after licking their wounds from a hard fought game against the Tigers of Missouri, dropping to 0-2 in conference play and 2-2 overall. Carolina had -9 rushing yards on 22 attempts and 14 penalties for 98 yards; that kind of performance is not going to win you very many football games against a power 4 opponent, let alone any football game. Shane Beamer said as much in his post game presser, essentially saying everyone needs to get better on offense and defense to win these games. Fans may hear those words from the head coach and roll their eyes, hearing the same coach speak after every disappointing loss gets a bit tiring when things don’t seem to turn around the following week.
Coming into week 5 against a flailing Kentucky team at 2-2 was not what most around the country envisioned the Gamecocks record being, but its the unfortunate reality of being outcoached and out executed. With Kentucky visiting Williams-Brice this Saturday, you cannot overlook their ability to win this game. So far, SC has looked mediocre at best on offense against a terrible Virginia Tech team, struggled to get going against FCS opponent SC State, got blown out by Vandy at home under the ligts (yes, I know Sellers was out most of the game), and could not execute when it counted most against Missouri. Kentucky may not be the best team in the SEC, but they have kept it close with a ranked Ole Miss team a few weeks ago, and can certainly do that against the Gamecocks too.
Overall, South Carolina’s offense looked surprisingly alive, like I had predicted in my pregame preview. What I did not expect was for the gamecocks to commit 14 penalties and have -9 rushing yards. We could play what-ifs all day, but the truth is these penalties killed drives. You can replay almost any drive in Saturday’s game and find an instance a drive was stalled from someone holding or from an egregious false start.
There is plenty to point out about when you take a quick look at the box score. First and foremost you will probably never win a game if you have negative rushing yards and give up nearly 300 yards on the ground. The main focus of my pregame analysis was to stop the run at all costs, this running back is probably the best in the country. Dominating on the ground like Mizzou did also sets up play action quite nicely, which was mostly effective against the SCAR defense, except for Kilgore’s great read to pick off Pribula. It looked like there was a lack of effort on the defensive side of the ball, missing who knows how many tackles, leading to huge gains for MIzzou’s offense.
Lanorris Sellers did look great on Saturday night, throwing for 302 yards, 2 TDs and no picks. Sellers was the entire offense for the Gamecocks, throwing players open and keeping plays alive when they should have been dead. Sellers did a great job in the play action and RPO game despite the lack of run game success.
The star QB did however make some questionable decisions that did hurt the offense. As Coach Beamer alluded to in the press conference, Sellers held on to the ball too long trying to force a play on the goal line instead of throwing it away, which spiraled into a costly penalty and most certainly cost the Gamecocks a touchdown on that drive, changing the complexion of the game.
The play calling was much better this week, using Sellers’ skillset to their advantage for what seems like the first time since the opening drive of the season against Virginia Tech. However, giving up on the run so quickly hurt this team, and like I have already emphasized negative rushing yards is how you lose a football game. Despite the improved play calling this week, Carolina somehow did not score any points in the 4th quarter, which is inexcusable.
Panic Time?
Do I think its time to panic in Columbia? Short answer is no. The Gamecocks started in a similar fashion last season with a 3-3 record after a close loss to Alabama in Tuscaloosa and turned around and ran the table. If this team can do the same as last years team is yet to be determined, but I do trust in Shane Beamer, he’s given me all the reason to believe.
The issues the team faces are very fixable, and are all self-inflicted. I assume after last week’s embarrassing performance the team sees this upcoming game as an opportunity to right the ship and show the can hang with their SEC peers. The Gamecocks have made marginal improvements each game this season (with disregards to the Vandy game) and I expect them to come prepared to this game.
Check back in Friday for my prediction for the Kentucky – South Carolina game.
The Gators roll in to Miami looking to improve to a .500 record after a less than ideal offensive effort from DJ Lagway against the LSU Tigers. The Gators went into Death Valley with a downtrodden spirit after suffering an upset at the hands of the USF Bulls, but faired fairly well against LSU. Some Florida faithful have blamed DJ Lagway’s 5 interceptions, while a majority have blamed Billy Napier’s play calling.
Regardless of what you think, this game is a must win for the Gators. With all due respect to Florida, Miami has looked excellent, which is why so many analysts are picking Miami to win outright. Who can blame them after Miami’s trouncing of the USF Bulls, who had beat the Gators the week before in the Swamp?
Florida lost a very winnable game at LSU last weekend – and whoever you may blame for that – is an issue that can be corrected. If you are Billy Napier and the Florida Gators, you need to rely heavily on the run game in this matchup. Sophomore runningback Jadan Baugh has averaged 6.6 YPC on 37 carries so far this season, a team high, and the Gators should look to lean on Baugh this Saturday to take pressure off of DJ Lagway. Florida also must convert on third down and make it to third and short consistently. The Gators have only converted 40% of third downs this season, which is not going to win you a lot of football games in the SEC, let alone one of the top teams in the country in Miami.
The Florida defense has been excellent all season, giving up 3 TDs this season, and only 1 to Heisman hopeful Garrett Nussmeier. Their defense has singlehandedly kept them in games this season and I wouldn’t expect any less in this game against Miami. Look out for standout Linebacker Myles Graham for the Gators this Saturday, he has been flying all over the field for them this season, leading the team in total tackles at 17 and has already recorded more solo tackles this season (11) than last season (9).
However, Miami QB Carson Beck may have something to say about the vaunted Florida defense. Beck, the RS SR transfer from Georgia, has completed 79% of his passes this season for 812 yards and 7 touchdowns to just 2 interceptions. He has certainly changed the narrative around his play after last year’s struggles at UGA.
Miami’s offense looks efficient, scoring 49 on USF last week, a stark contrast to Florida’s offensive woes this season. Miami’s offense is a balanced attack, mixing in running plays and passing plays almost evenly in their win over the Bulls in Miami last Saturday. Beck is also distributing the ball among his teammates, with 14 different pass catchers having caught at least on ball.
This Gators defense will be a challenge for this veteran QB, and probably will be the best defense he sees all year. Beck will be just as much as a challenge for this young Gators team. Beck did not fair well against the Gator defense in last year’s meeting when he was with Georgia, tossing 3 interceptions en route to a 34-20 win despite his poor performance.
If Miami wants to win, they have to do more of the same: have a balanced offense, keep Carson Beck upright, and pressure DJ Lagway – force him to make mistakes like he did against LSU.
Editor’s Pick
The Miami Hurricanes are potentially the best team in the land as of right now and could very well win the national championship this year. Their offense is still soaring this year, even without the likes of Cam Ward, and their defense has taken a step forward this year. This is the best Canes team we have seen in awhile.
On the other hand, the Florida Gators are in turmoil, with fans revolting against their Head Coach Billy Napier and the offense struggling mightily, the odds are stacked against them. DJ Lagway has looked like a shell of himself and the offense cannot get out of their own way. Things may not turn around until Napier relinquishes play calling duties and hires somebody.
So who wins?
I have Florida winning the game 24-23 in an upset over the Canes.
Florida is just as talented as Miami is on any given Saturday. Given Miami does not really have a homefield advantage I can see Florida going in there and turning the college football world upside down.
The South Carolina Gamecocks will be visiting the #23 Missouri Tigers this Saturday in Columbia, Missouri, which kicks off at 7 PM on ESPN. The Gamecocks come into this game unranked after dropping out of the AP Top 25, previously being a consensus top 15 team in the preseason, along with having some question marks on offense. QB Lanorris Sellers left the game last weekend against Vanderbilt after suffering a concussion early in the second quarter, and has not yet been confirmed to be playing this Saturday, however his status is trending upwards according to Coach Shane Beamer.
The Gamecock Offense has looked lowly throughout the first 3 games of the season, only scoring 3 touchdowns against power 4 opponents and struggling against FCS opponent SC State. Mike Shula’s offense has not looked very creative and has failed to sustain drives after the opening drive of the game, leading to many fans wanting Shula canned.
Vanderbilt scored 31 points last week in their winning effort against the Gamecock defense last week leading to many questioning the Gamecock’s defensive prowess. However, I would not put much stock into their performance last week. The lack of sustained drives with Luke Doty at QB and Vandy’s long methodical drives to run out the clock did not give the defense an ability to maintain its edge, contrary to Shane Beamer’s comments post-game.
Throughout the first 3 games of the 2025 season the Missouri Tigers have looked excellent on both sides of the ball. Penn State transfer QB Beau Pribula has added some juice to the Tigers offense, completing 76% of his passes for 7 TDs and just 1 interception. The star QB for Mizzou has also ran in 3 TDs to help start Tiger’s season at 3-0.
Sophomore Ahmad Hardy has also looked excellent in the Tigers’ ground game, averaging 8.1 YPC on 57 attempts with 5 TDs. Mizzou’s TE Brett Norfleet is the team leader in receiving touchdowns with 3 and has become a major target for Pribula early in the season out of play action.
The Tigers’ defense has had its holes at times during their game against Kansas, but ultimately held Kansas to less than 300 total yards. Standout Linebacker Josiah Trotter, son of Eagles legend Jeremiah Trotter, has looked excellent for them so far this season, especially against the run.
Missouri Tigers Film Breakdown
Watching the Tiger’s first few games of the season has revealed some tendencies in their play calling and what QB Beau Pribula likes to do.
Two out of the last three games the tigers have started their opening drive with a play action pass to one of their tight ends followed by an inside run to Ahmad Hardy. Each of their first drives has been heavily run focused, which sets up designed QB runs and play action passes to the tight end or a wide receiver on a quick slant across the middle of the field. The Tigers are do not tend to run a lot of RPOs and lean on Pribula’s ability to run the football.
The way Mizzou’s offense is set up allows Pribula to make quick decisions and target his first read in the short to intermediate range allowing for large chunk plays, mainly through play action. Pribula’s ability to keep the play alive by scrambling created a problem for the Jayhawks, as they had to worry about both Hardy and Pribula. Missouri also uses a lot of motion in their offense pre-snap, something South Carolina severely lacks in.
Looking at the defensive side of the ball, Mizzou has some playmakers on the field, with defenders flying around. Josiah Trotter and Damon Wilson II are two key players to keep your eyes on during Saturdays game. Wilson is a game wrecker who already has 3 sacks on the season and will likely add another before the game ends tomorrow.
However, Missouri has struggled with covering designed QB runs, read options and play action passes. Missouri also likes to run zone coverage on defense, look for them to also run a spy on Sellers if he does play this Saturday.
Gamecocks’ Keys to Victory
There is no doubt that South Carolina is one of the most talented teams in the country especially if QB Lanorris Sellers is starting, but can they put it together? In order to beat the 23rd ranked Tigers I have put together 5 keys to securing a victory in Saturday’s matchup in Columbia MIssouri:
Let Lanorris Sellers be himself, do not try to force him to be a pocket passer. Draw up some designed QB runs and let him do what he is best at, turning nothing into something.
Get the run game going early and often, establish a ground presence to set up play action to exploit Mizzou’s weak points.
Get Nyck Harbor involved early and often.
Stuff the run, stop Ahmad Hardy at all costs, if they happen to beat you with some passes to their WR so be it, but take away their main playmaker.
Be on the lookout for play action and take away their tightends, Pribula is always looking for his TE especially in play action, if you take it away he may panic.
Overall I’m not too worried about the Gamecock defense, I’m worried about how the offense will fair after three consecutive subpar performances against teams that are not world beaters. Mike Shula has to allow Sellers to be the guy he was last year, he is not a pocket passer. Also, put some pre-snap motion in that offense, it’ll be easier to tell what coverage the defense is running by motioning some guys pre-snap. If Shula does not figure it out against Mizzou this weekend, I’m not sure he ever will.
Missouri Football vs Vanderbilt – Homecoming 2014 – October 25, 2014
(Photo by Ben Walton)
Editor’s Pick
As we get closer to game time, the less confident I become in the Gamecocks ability to get it done with or without Lanorris Sellers in this game. Missouri has been a thorn in South Carolina’s side for years and I don’t see this game being much different.
I have Mizzou winning this game 30-21 with the Gamecocks offense looking surprisingly alive but ultimately putting the defense in bad positions to lose the game.
I would love to pick the Gamecocks here, as I believe they are the more talented team, but I just have not seen them put it together in all three phases in a game. Coaching is holding this team back and until I see otherwise I will have to give the nod to Mizzou.
Ready, Set, Recruit 