South Carolina drops fourth-straight Mayor's Cup to Missouri
No. 25 South Carolina couldn’t get it done Saturday night, falling 23-10 to Missouri.
The loss is now the fourth in a row to Missouri, meaning the Mayor’s Cup will stay in Columbia, Missouri for another year. It also snaps South Carolina’s four-game win streak.
The Gamecocks got off to a slow start in both phases of the game, and Missouri was able to take advantage of it.
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Both teams were forced to punt on their first drives, but Brady Cook and the Missouri offense were able to recover faster.
Kai Kroeger pinned Missouri at the four yard line to start its second drive and Cook led Missouri 96 yards down field for a touchdown.
The 15 play drive ate up a sizable chunk of the clock and was capped off by a three yard touchdown rush by Cook.
Cook put on a clinic during the game, making the most of his arm and legs. He ended the game 17-for-26 through the air for 224 yards and ran for 53 yards and a touchdown.
South Carolina followed up Missouri’s scoring drive by going three-and-out after only gaining one yard in three plays.
The Gamecocks were only able to muster up eight plays on offense across the two drives they had in the first quarter.
The second quarter consisted of much the same of both teams.
Missouri added 10 more points to the scoreboard thanks to a touchdown from running back Cody Schrader and a field goal from Harrison Mevis. The scores helped Missouri get out to a 17-0 lead at one point in the second quarter.
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Cook and the Tigers had two scoring drives that were 10 plays and 84 and 75-yards apiece in the first half.
South Carolina didn’t score until its very last drive of the second quarter. The Gamecocks were able to drive 82 yards down the field for a seven yard touchdown from Spencer Rattler.
The score helped the Gamecocks cut the lead to 17-7 going into halftime.
Coming out of the break the Missouri offense appeared to cool off momentarily, but South Carolina’s offense still couldn’t pick it up.
The Gamecocks put up minus-3 yards in their first drive of the second half and were forced to punt after three plays.
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South Carolina had 10 offensive drives on Saturday night, and six of those ended in a punt. Four of those drives were three-and-outs.
On the Gamecocks second drive of the second quarter Rattler coughed up the ball and Missouri recovered the fumble deep in South Carolina territory.
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Rattler was under constant pressure the entire night and was sacked four times. He finished the game 20-for-30 in the passing game for 171 yards.
Clayton White’s defense was able to step up though, getting a big third down stop with their backs against the end zone and forcing Missouri to try for a field goal.
Mevis ended up missing the chip shot 21-yard field goal and Rattler led the Gamecocks on a 12-play drive to that ended with a 39-yard field goal from Mitch Jeter.
Jeter’s field goal made it a one score game, with the Gamecocks down 17-10, but South Carolina couldn’t find any consistent momentum.
After missing a field goal earlier, Mevis helped Missouri extend its lead to 23-10 after nailing a 50-yard and 32-yard field goal on back-to-back drives.
Rattler threw his ninth interception of the year late in the fourth quarter, and the pick essentially iced the game.
