Staff Picks: South Carolina at Missouri, other Week 4 matchups

After an ugly loss to Vanderbilt last week, South Carolina will hit the road for its first true road game of the season.

The Gamecocks will head to CoMo on Saturday to take on No. 23 Missouri under the lights at Faurot Field. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

Here’s how the GamecockCentral and 107.5 The Game staff sees this game going, plus a few predictions on other key matchups this weekend.

George Bagwell: Feel free to call me a homer. But I do sincerely think that this program does best when it has low expectations. The Gamecocks still have a pretty decent, non-injured (mostly) defense that can stop a Missouri offense that hasn’t yet faced a defense of SEC caliber. Consider this a dart throw from the other side of the pub. South Carolina 31, Missouri 28.

Elijah Campbell: This game will be closer than I originally thought because looking really good after bad losses has been the MO for many Shane Beamer teams. Whether it’s Sellers or Doty at QB, the offensive issues of consistency will still loom but they’ll find a way to get into the end zone a few times. Missouri will run the ball well enough to win this game but the Carolina defense will still force some struggles from Mizzou QB Beau Pribula. Missouri 21, South Carolina 17.

Chris Clark: The Gamecocks will be the best test so far for Mizzou, but the Tigers are playing really well right now. The run game is strong and they present some issues defensively for a Carolina offense that’s had struggles so far. Missouri 27, South Carolina 20.

Terry Ford: I’ve seen this movie…after Gainesville in 2022…after ODU and Ole Miss last year…whenever everyone says Carolina has no shot…they go out prove those everyone’s wrong by playing well or flat out winning. I just think Shane and his crew bounce back with their typical excellent performance after a bad loss. South Carolina 27, Missouri 24.

Griffin Goodwyn: South Carolina still has many questions to answer, as last weekend’s blowout loss to Vanderbilt highlighted the team’s struggles on both sides of the football. They might not find any answers against Missouri, whose offense will be difficult to stop with quarterback Drew Pribula and Ahmad Hardy playing as well as they have so far. Not to mention, Mayor’s Cup matchups on the road have been the Gamecocks’ kryptonite in recent years. All those factors spell a potentially long night in “CoMo.” Missouri 28, South Carolina 17.

Tyler Head: The Gamecocks certainly left a lot to be desired vs Vandy and the uncertainty of Sellers is obviously the biggest variable in this one. I believe he will play, but I still don’t have enough confidence that the offense will be efficient enough. The defense also looked quite sloppy vs Vandy and Mizzou’s outside zone run scheme will make you pay if you’re not disciplined. I think the Gamecocks can stay in it, but Mizzou will prove to be too much. Missouri 28, South Carolina 20.

Mingo Martin: Rough, rough start to SEC play for the Gamecocks. I don’t expect it to get any better this week facing the nation’s No. 2 running back. They’ll hold the Tigers under their 51 ppg average, but it ain’t gonna be good regardless. Missouri 41, South Carolina 17.

Kevin Miller: South Carolina needs to bounce back in a big way this week, as the schedule becomes relentless in October. Unfortunately, though, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz has proven to be a tough matchup for the Gamecocks over the years. It took a five-touchdown performance (at home) from LaNorris Sellers last year to earn the only victory over Missouri since Drink took over. Through three games so far this season, Carolina’s offense has five total touchdowns, so replicating that type of success won’t be easy. Because of that, I can’t justify picking anything other than a Mizzou win. I think the defense will fight, but with an offense with more questions than answers right now, it won’t be enough, especially if Sellers is limited or out altogether. Missouri 28, South Carolina 14.

Wes Mitchell: A gut check game comes early for South Carolina as all those high expectations are teetering. Believe it or not, I liked what I saw from the offense before LaNorris Sellers went down last week, and they’ll need a lot more of that on Saturday if they’re going to keep pace with a Missouri offense that typically gives Carolina fits over the years. It’s worth mentioning that of the five total games Carolina has lost with Sellers at the helm, only two of them have featured a fully healthy Sellers (I’m including the Ole Miss game in the “not fully healthy” category). If Sellers is good to go and fully himself, the Gamecocks are still tough to beat, regardless of the vibes around the program right now. And we know Shane Beamer can circle the wagons with the best. But this is a tough matchup. Missouri 27, South Carolina 24.

Jay Philips: After what we saw the Vandy offense do to the SC defense, I’m more concerned with that at the moment simply because I know how good Eli Drinkwitz is at implementing a solid game plan, especially against Carolina. Yes, the Gamecocks MUST become more productive on offense regardless of the QB this week, but they’ll need big stops on the road in order to come home with a win. Right now, the whole thing seems a little out of sorts, so I’ll take Missouri 31, South Carolina 23.

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Kendall Smith: It’s tough to pick South Carolina with so many question marks surrounding what we will see in this game. It’s been tough for them to play Missouri in general over the last several years, especially on the road. I’ll give this one to Missouri. Missouri 24, South Carolina 17.

Mike Uva: South Carolina’s offense has been struggling, they’re playing on the road at a place they haven’t at had much success at in recent years, and no one is giving them much of a chance to win this weekend. And yet… I think we’ll see a Gamecock offense that looks like the offense many expected to see at the start of the year. USC will need to win the turnover margin and a WR or a TE will need to step up this weekend in order to come back to the other Columbia with a win. South Carolina 30, Missouri 27.

Jack Veltri: South Carolina has bounced back before after rough losses. This sets up as a perfect opportunity to do just that. But there are too many question marks right now for me to feel confident in picking the Gamecocks this weekend. Missouri is a good football team led by a coach who has owned South Carolina almost every single time. Problems don’t magically go away in a week. We’ll see some progress made by the Gamecocks. But the Tigers will run the football effectively enough to win a close one out in CoMo. Missouri 28, South Carolina 24.

Chris Wellbaum: I’ve seen this movie before. The Gamecocks have to bottom out before they turn the season around. Plus, the Mayor’s Cup is never decided by logic; it’s decided by supernatural forces who like to toy with us mere mortals. Missouri 24, South Carolina 11.

	North Texas at Army	Texas Tech at Utah	Oregon State at Oregon	Auburn at Oklahoma	Michigan at Nebraska	Florida at Miami (FL)	Washington at Washington State	Illinois at Indiana	Arizona State at Baylor
George Bagwell (28-10)	North Texas	Texas Tech	Oregon	Oklahoma	Nebraska	Miami (FL)	Washington	Indiana	Baylor
Elijah Campbell (23-15)	North Texas	Utah	Oregon	Oklahoma	Michigan	Miami (FL)	Washington	Illinois	Baylor
Chris Clark (21-17)	Army	Texas Tech	Oregon	Oklahoma	Nebraska	Miami (FL)	Washington	Illinois	Baylor
Terry Ford (20-18)	Army	Utah	Oregon	Oklahoma	Michigan	Miami (FL)	Washington	Illinois	Arizona State
Griffin Goodwyn (23-15)	North Texas	Utah	Oregon	Oklahoma	Michigan	Miami (FL)	Washington	Illinois	Baylor
Tyler Head (24-14)	Army	Utah	Oregon	Oklahoma	Nebraska	Miami (FL)	Washington State	Indiana	Arizona State
Mingo Martin (21-17)	North Texas	Utah	Oregon	Auburn	Michigan	Miami (FL)	Washington	Illinois	Arizona State
Kevin Miller (21-17)	Army	Utah	Oregon	Oklahoma	Michigan	Miami (FL)	Washington	Illinois	Arizona State
Wes Mitchell (22-16)	North Texas	Texas Tech	Oregon	Oklahoma	Michigan	Miami (FL)	Washington	Indiana	Arizona State
Jay Philips (21-17)	North Texas	Utah	Oregon	Oklahoma	Michigan	Miami (FL)	Washington	Illinois	Baylor
Kendall Smith (25-13)	Army	Utah	Oregon	Oklahoma	Michigan	Miami (FL)	Washington	Indiana	Baylor
Mike Uva (25-13)	North Texas	Utah	Oregon	Oklahoma	Nebraska	Miami (FL)	Washington	Illinois	Baylor
Jack Veltri (24-15)	North Texas	Texas Tech	Oregon	Auburn	Nebraska	Miami (FL)	Washington	Illinois	Baylor
Chris Wellbaum (22-16)	Army	Utah	Oregon	Oklahoma	Nebraska	Miami (FL)	Washington	Indiana	Baylor

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