South Carolina vs Missouri live updates: Luke Doty takes over, can’t rally USC to win
The State’s Ben Breiner is at Williams-Brice Stadium for Saturday’s South Carolina football game against Missouri. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. on the SEC Network Alternate channel. The Gamecocks are playing a 10-game, SEC-only schedule during the coronavirus-delayed season.
FINAL: Missouri 17, South Carolina 10
South Carolina got one final chance to tie the game, getting the ball at the one-yard line with less than three minutes to go. Doty’s last-ditch effort ended with an interception, sending the Gamecocks to their fourth consecutive defeat.
TD Fenwick: Missouri 17, South Carolina 10
South Carolina punched its way into the end zone for the first time all game on a one-yard run by redshirt sophomore Deshaun Fenwick, capping a methodical 13-play, 77-yard touchdown led by Doty to make it a one-possession game with less than five minutes to play.
End of third quarter: Missouri 17, South Carolina 3
While South Carolina’s offense showed signs of life and exceeded its first half yardage with freshman Luke Doty at the helm, the USC defense stepped up and held Missouri scoreless to keep the game within reach.
FG White: Missouri 17, South Carolina 3
Freshman quarterback Luke Doty came out to start the second half for the Gamecocks, and he guided the offense to its best drive of the day, a 10-play, 43-yard effort that ended with a 47-yard field goal from Parker White.
HALFTIME: Missouri 17, South Carolina 0
Without injured senior receiver Shi Smith, the Gamecock offense struggled to get anything going in the first half Saturday, producing just 68 yards and 2.3 yards per play. The USC defense held up decently well up against Mizzou’s attack and was hurt by some questionable calls, but it simply couldn’t hold up forever.
FG Mevis: Missouri 17, South Carolina 0
The Tigers got the ball back with 1:30 left before halftime and marched down the field, aided by a couple of untimely penalties for South Carolina, and got a chip shot 20-yard field goal to go up three scores before the half.
TD Rountree: Missouri 14, South Carolina 0
Missouri doubled its lead after a short pass from Conor Bazelak to Tyler Badie turned into a 28-yard gain to the 10-yard line, setting up three consecutive runs that ended with a 1-yard plunge from Larry Rountree into the end zone.
End of first quarter: Missouri 7, South Carolina 0
Though both teams’ defenses have been decimated by injury and COVID-19 protocols, neither offense could get much going in the first half, with a pair of key punts setting up Mizzou with a short field for the game’s only score. South Carolina, meanwhile, can get nothing going without star receiver Shi Smith, and quarterback Collin Hill has already taken two sacks.
Top Gamecock receiver injured
South Carolina star senior Shi Smith, far and away the team’s top receiving threat, went down with an injury at the end of the nine-yard reception in the first quarter and went to USC’s locker room before the half, sideline reporter Alyssa Lang said on the SEC Network. The exact nature of his injury is still unclear.
TD Dove: Missouri 7, South Carolina 0
Mizzou struck first with a 20-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Conor Bazelak to wide receiver Tauskie Dove midway through the first quarter. The Tigers started their scoring drive in Gamecock territory thanks to two favorable calls on punts — the first pinned South Carolina at its own 1-yard line, the second seemed to touch a Missouri player for a fumble but was waved off by the referees.
Missouri playing with fewer than 53 players
Missouri will play Saturday night’s games without the 53 scholarship player threshold the SEC recommends, according to Mizzou Radio— teams are allowed to play with fewer players but the SEC’s guidelines call for letting games to be postponed at that point.
The Tigers’ struggles with depth come as they deal with a COVID-19 outbreak that forced its previous game against Georgia to be postponed. By Friday, the Tigers were down to just 53 scholarship players due to injuries, positive coronavirus tests and contact tracing, and more injuries led to Saturday’s shortage.
South Carolina is above that threshold but isn’t that much better off. Between four opt-outs after the firing of coach Will Muschamp and several season-ending surgeries, the Gamecocks are close to that 53 number as well, interim coach Mike Bobo has said.
Despite all that, both coaches have insisted they want to play, and Mizzou Radio reported that Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz is OK proceeding without the minimum number.
Early observations
Fullback Adam Prentice, who got a season-high in snaps last week against Ole Miss, had a sore throat this week but was present in warmups Saturday evening.
The Gamecocks also released an updated depth chart, a departure from the program’s norms under coach Will Muschamp, who typically released just one depth chart at the beginning of the season. This new chart doesn’t feature a ton of surprises but does list Cam Smith, John Dixon and Jaylan Foster taking over for the trio of Gamecock defensive backs who opted out of the rest of the season earlier this week — Jaycee Horn, Israel Mukuamu and RJ Roderick.
Bettling line favors Tigers
Missouri opened the week as a narrow 1-point favorite over a collapsing South Carolina squad. With news leaking out that coach Will Muschamp would be fired, however, that betting line quickly jumped to 6 points in favor of the Tigers on Sunday. After that, it inched up to 6.5 points and stayed there for most of the week before dropping back to 5 by Saturday evening.
This story was originally published November 21, 2020 at 6:33 PM with the headline "South Carolina vs Missouri live updates: Luke Doty takes over, can’t rally USC to win."