Eliah Drinkwitz had owned South Carolina since his days as a quality control coordinator at Auburn. Drinkwitz sported a dominant 5-1 record against the Gamecocks, including 3-0 as a head coach, heading into Saturday’s matchup. Once again, Drinkwitz’s team emerged victorious.
Offensively, Missouri had arguably their best performance of the season. Dominic Lovett was carving up South Carolina’s defense all game long, whether it was on a deep shot or a touch pass. The East St. Louis native caught 10 passes for 148 yards, his career-high in receiving yards and his third 100-yard receiving outing of his Missouri career.
On the ground, Cody Schrader and Brady Cook both had solid days. After being promoted to the RB1 earlier this week, Schrader’s 81 yards on 22 carries may not look spectacular on paper, but the Truman State transfer picked up numerous key first downs and was instrumental in the Tigers running out the clock late in the fourth quarter, receiving ten consecutive carries that took over six minutes off the clock in regulation with Missouri up 13.
Cook also had one of his better rushing days of the season, registering 53 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown. His utilization of the read option against the Gamecocks was exceptional, often making correct reads and gaining positive yardage accordingly. Through the air, Cook was solid, completing 17/26 passes for an SEC career-high 224 yards, and didn’t turn the ball over for the first time since Oct.1 against Georgia. While his outing wasn’t perfect, as he missed a couple of wide open receivers deep downfield, this was one of Cook’s best games of the season.
Defensively, Missouri was exceptional once again. It was the secondary and defensive line who shined the brightest for the Tigers on Saturday. The Tigers sacked Spencer Rattler four times and registered another double-digit TFL outing with 11. Daylan Carnell forced a fumble. Dreyden Norwood intercepted Rattler to ice the game late in the fourth quarter. They held an electric South Carolina rushing attack to 32 yards on 23 carries.
Special teams was also a plus for the Tigers. Outside of a missed 21-yard chip shot by Harrison Mevis, the junior drilled three other field goals. “Beamer Ball”, which means USC making impact plays on special teams, was contained by Missouri.
This was arguably the most complete game of the season for the Tigers. They’ll head back to the Columbia of the Midwest to take on Kentucky next Saturday.