COLUMBIA, Mo. – No. 24 University of Missouri football opens the final stretch of its 2024 regular season Saturday with a pivotal Southeastern Conference matchup against the No. 23 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C.
Kickoff is set for 3:15 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast live on SEC Network and Tiger Radio Network.
Missouri and South Carolina will meet for the 15th time Saturday, with the Tigers holding a slim 9-5 all-time edge. Mizzou has won the last five contest in the series dating back to 2019, with two of those wins coming at Williams-Brice Stadium in 2020 and 2022.
Saturday’s SEC Network broadcast will feature Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers, and Cole Cubelic on the call. The game can also be heard on the Tiger Radio Network from LEARFIELD through the Varsity Network mobile app and Sirius XM channel 374.
HOW TO FOLLOW
[24] Missouri (7-2, 3-2 SEC) at [23] South Carolina (6-3, 4-3 SEC)
Saturday, November 16, 2024 • 3:15 p.m. CT
Columbia, S.C. • Williams-Brice Stadium (77,559)
TELEVISION • SECN
RADIO • Tiger Radio Network from LEARFIELD
GAME NOTES • Missouri Notes • South Carolina Notes
LIVE STATS • GamecocksOnline.com
TWITTER • @MizzouFootball
INTERVIEWS • Coach Drinkwitz Weekly Press Conference | Corey Flagg Jr. Pre-Practice Interview | Nicholas Deloach Jr. Pre-Practice Interview | Nate Noel Pre-Practice Interview
GAME NOTES
Missouri is seeking its sixth consecutive victory over South Carolina on Saturday, a streak that includes wins in each of the Tigers’ last two trips to Williams-Brice Stadium.
The Tigers enter Saturday’s matchup ranked No. 21 in this week’s USA Today Coaches poll and No. 24 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll; Mizzou also debuted at No. 24 in last week’s initial College Football Playoff ranking.
Head coach Eliah Drinkwitz notched his 35th win at Mizzou with last week’s victory over Oklahoma; he needs two more victories to match Dan Devine‘s program record for wins through the first five seasons of a Mizzou head coaching tenure.
Mizzou’s defense ranks among the nation’s best in several statistical categories, including first downs allowed (2nd), 3rd down conversion percentage (7th), passing yards allowed (8th), total defense (10th), and scoring defense (16th).
LB Corey Flagg Jr.‘s average of 7.80 tackles per game in SEC play ranks 10th in the conference, while DE Johnny Walker Jr.‘s 3.5 sacks in league play rank ninth among all SEC defenders.
MU’s offense has converted 30-of-33 (.909) red zone opportunities into points this season, which ranks fourth in the SEC and 25th nationally; the Tigers have scored on 86-of-91 (.945) combined trips to the red zone since the start of the 2023 season.
The Tigers lead the SEC in average time of possession (32:19) and rank second in fewest turnovers lost (8); Mizzou also leads the conference in fewest penalty yards per game (40.4) in league play.
QB Brady Cook (8,053) ranks fourth on the Tigers’ all-time passing yardage list and fifth on MU’s career touchdown passes chart (45); he enters Saturday’s game 746 yards behind Brad Smith for the No. 3 spot and six TD tosses shy of James Franklin in the No. 4 position, respectively.
K Blake Craig ranks second in the SEC and 11th nationally in field goals per game (1.78); the freshman’s 74 points on the season rank eighth among all SEC players.
WR Luther Burden III (2,092) enters Saturday’s game nine yards away from breaking into Mizzou’s all-time top 10 for receiving yards; the junior also needs 12 catches to crack the Tigers’ top 5 for career receptions.
Burden III ranks fourth in the SEC in receptions per game (5.0), while RB Nate Noel‘s 5.6 yards per carry rates as the No. 5 rushing average in the conference.
TINGERS HUNTING SIXTH-STRAIGHT WIN AGAINST USC
Saturday’s contest will mark the 15th meeting between the Tigers and Gamecocks, with Mizzou holding a 9-5 edge on the series that dates back to 1979.
On the road, Mizzou is 3-3 against USC, but has claimed each of its last two meetings with the Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium in 2020 and 2022.
Mizzou owns the overall series lead thanks largely to its current five-game winning streak vs. South Carolina (dating back to 2019).
The Tigers claimed last year’s matchup on Faurot Field, 34-12, using a stout defense that allowed just 286 yards of total offense while keeping the Gamecocks out of the end zone all afternoon.
Over the course of its current five-game win streak vs. the Gamecocks, Mizzou has permitted an average of just 14.8 points per contest.
HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?
DE Zion Young‘s decisive 17-yard fumble return for a touchdown with just 30 seconds left in regulation vs. Oklahoma stands as the latest defensive score on record by the Tigers to decide a game.
The previous program standard was Jim Whitaker‘s 60-yard interception return for a TD with 2:14 left in a 21-14 victory over Illinois on September 24, 1966.
Young’s scoop-and-score was the longest fumble return for a TD by a Tiger defender since the 2018 season, when Joshuah Bledsoe picked up a Tennessee fumble and took it 39 yards to the house.
Mizzou ranks 23rd nationally in fumbles recovered (7)and 37th in turnover margin (0.44); conversely, the Tigers have committed just eight turnovers on the season, which ranks 19th nationally.
The Tigers have logged nine defensive touchdowns under head coach Eliah Drinkwitz.
NOVEMBER HEAT
Missouri has won its last four November contests and six of its last seven in the month overall since its November 19, 2022 victory over New Mexico State.
MU has averaged 36.8 points over its last six November victories.
The Tigers are 10-5 overall in November under Eliah Drinkwitz.
PROTECTING THE ROCK
The Tigers’ 7-2 start has been made possible by an offense that has not only controlled the time of possession in seven of its nine outings, but also limited turnovers to just eight giveaways to date.
Mizzou leads the SEC and ranks 15th nationally in time of possession, controlling the ball for an average of 32:19 through its nine games.
Additionally, the Tigers have turned the ball over just eight times — four fumbles and four interceptions.
MU turned in a turnover-less streak spanning more than 18 full quarters (plus two overtime periods vs. Vanderbilt) from September 21 through October 19.
QB Brady Cook, who set an SEC record for consecutive pass attempts without throwing an interception (365) last fall, has an active string of 169 straight pass attempts without an interception since his lone pick of the season in the third quarter of the Tigers’ matchup vs. Buffalo (Sept. 7).
For the season, the Tigers are tied for 19th nationally with their eight giveaways.
IN THE ZONE
Mizzou has been nearly unstoppable in the red zone, converting 30-of-33 (.909) trips inside of the opposition’s 20-yard line into points this season.
The Tigers have found the end zone on 21 of those possessions overall (63.6%).
Against Auburn (Oct. 19), the Tiger offense made three trips to the red zone, reaching the end zone twice; MU’s lone non-conversion in the red zone came on the game-ending kneel-down at the AU 17 yard line.
The Tigers red zone offense was one of the nation’s best in 2023, putting points on the board in 56-of-58 (96.6%) trips inside the 20-yard line to rank third among all FBS offenses.
MU converted 36 red zone TDs, while Harrison Mevis booted 20 red zone FGs to rank second among all FBS kickers.
Mizzou enters Saturday’s contest 86-of-91 (.945) in the red zone overall since the start of last season.
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