This Saturday ESPN is bringing College Gameday to Columbia for the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Missouri Tigers, and as we do every week, we’ll take a look inside the numbers of this big game. With ESPN coming, everything that happened last year in this game, the start both teams have had this year and the SEC East title possibly hanging on the outcome of this game makes Saturday even bigger for both schools and teams from a city called Columbia.
24 – number of points Missouri scored last year in their 2OT 27-24 loss to South Carolina in Columbia, Missouri and also the number of yards of the field goal missed by Missouri kicker Andrew Baggett that sealed the win for the Gamecocks.
14– touchdown passes from Maty Mauk already in just four games this year. The elusive #7 draws comparisons to Johnny Manziel and other successful quarterbacks and is only a sophomore, but already considered one of the best quarterbacks in the nation .
2 – number of victories each team has in this series. The Gamecocks have won the past two years in a row since Missouri entered the SEC, and Missouri previously won twice in bowl games, most recently in 2005 in the Independence Bowl.
104 – victories for Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel in his 13 seasons. They won the Big 12 North title three times and the SEC East last year, all under Pinkel. He is the winningest coach of all time at both Missouri and previously at Toledo. Only Pinkel and Steve Spurrier are the all-time winningest coaches at two different schools.
9 – turnovers created by the Missouri defense already this season with five interceptions and four fumbles recovered. Although the Tiger defense has struggled to stop the run, and lost some big names to the pros, they’ve still made some big plays this season. Clearly South Carolina will need to hold on to the ball and try to win the turnover battle.
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– victories for each team heading into this game Saturday. Many people seemed surprised to hear that ESPN would be coming to Columbia this weekend, but when you really consider all the storylines in this one game it makes total sense. Last year’s game was one of the craziest of the FBS season and
Connor Shaw‘s heroic performance left Missouri fans stunned. Both schools are based in Columbia in their respective state capitals. Both schools are in the SEC East, and this game could really have big bearings on who heads to Atlanta in December. South Carolina is already playing in the 4th SEC game of the season, while this is the opening SEC game on Missouri’s schedule. Missouri is last year’s SEC East champion, and because they play Georgia the following week, the East could be determined in the next 10 days. If South Carolina wins, they will be 3-0 in the SEC East already.
39 – points scored by Elliot Fry already this season, which is 9th best in the nation so far. As a freshman, Elliot kicked the game-winning field goal last year in the thrilling come from behind victory for the Gamecocks. Andrew Baggett, who missed the game tying field goal in that same game, is the Missouri kicker and has 32 points already this year.