South Carolina Football Christmas: Which opponents are on Gamecock Santa's naughty list?
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Football Christmas:
Gamecock Santa's Naughty List, The Missouri Tigers
A team that didn't use to bother the Gamecocks (other than women's basketball fans), the Missouri Tigers have become a despised group within USC circles. A lot of that comes from head coach Eli Drinkwitz.
Drinkwitz was rumored to be a major candidate for the Gamecocks' offensive coordinator job one offseason under head coach Will Muschamp, and when he didn't get the job in favor of the less-qualified Bryan McClendon, Drink seemed to take that personally.
Since becoming a head coach shortly after, Drinkwitz has gone 5-0 against South Carolina football with one win as the leader of the Appalachian State program and four more with Missouri (though, USC lost to Mizou in 2019, as well, when Barry Odom was still coaching). In those five losses, the Gamecocks were the inferior team just once (or twice depending on how one views 2020), but Carolina has not played well against Missouri since winning in 2018.
The two program are very similar over the past 20 years, so frustration is high in Gamecock Nation that Missouri seems to have figured things out in the immediate under Drinkwitz, while the Gamecocks missed out on a bowl game this season. That, coupled with the ever-growing boldness of the black and gold supporters, puts Mizzou on Gamecock Santa's bad side.