SEC Nation crew shares picks for South Carolina-Missouri

It’s game day in Columbia… Missouri. South Carolina will look to bounce back against the Missouri Tigers on Saturday at Faurot Field.

Kickoff will be at 7 p.m. on ESPN. Earlier in the day, the SEC Nation crew, live from Norman, Oklahoma, for Auburn-Oklahoma, shared some of their thoughts and predictions for the Gamecocks’ matchup with the Tigers.

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Former Florida Gator, Heisman-winning quarterback Tim Tebow had praise for South Carolina starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers after the latter was announced as active for the game.

“His biggest gifting right now is his ability to be a strong, physical runner that can also accelerate,” Tebow said. “If I have to be a little bit cautious of being physical, it takes away some of that confidence because usually when he makes the big plays, it’s because he breaks a tackle at the line of scrimmage or the backfield, and then he accelerates and uses his speed.”

Roman Harper, a former defensive back for Alabama under Mike Shula, also wanted to see Sellers embrace his physical talents and use his legs.

“I’m telling LaNorris, ‘You’ve got to cut it loose today,’” Roman Harper said. “Whatever happened last week was last week; you can’t control that. We lost that game, but this game is another one…let’s just go win this one. All the emotions from last week go through the back window.”

Despite the 81 degrees forecast with little chance of rain in Columbia, Jordan Rodgers, former quarterback for Vanderbilt, didn’t have a sunny outlook on the Gamecocks’ offense.

“They haven’t been great running the football with (Oscar) Adaway and (Rahsul) Faison and the receiving group outside of Nyck Harbor is really young,” Rodgers said. “I expect to that point maybe you get the ball to the perimeter a lot more frequently, try to take some hits off LaNorris.”

Laura Rutledge had more straightforward words about the Gamecocks’ offense. South Carolina is only averaging 193 passing yards per game this season, while giving up an average of 202 passing yards per game.

“South Carolina goes as LaNorris Sellers goes,” Rutledge said. “There’s not much other than Sellers, right? If you look at their team as a whole.”

South Carolina-Missouri Predictions

Tim Tebow: Missouri

Why Tebow picked Missouri: “Missouri, I love what they’re doing, offense, defense, special teams, Beau Pribula, Ahmad Hardy. I think this team is real, they’re improving, they’re getting better every week, and there’s too many question marks for South Carolina.”

Jordan Rodgers: Missouri

Why Rodgers picked Missouri: “Agreed, I think Missouri keeps rolling. I think right now, they’re a college football playoff team.”

Roman Harper: Missouri

Why Harper picked Missouri: “I want to pick South Carolina. But I’m not. They’re just not there. Missouri’s the better team. I want to be right today, I don’t want to be Mr. Showboat.”

Paul Finebaum: Missouri

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