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Keys To Victory: South Carolina @ No. 20 Missouri

South Carolina's Football team is running out of time to try and right the ship, and they'll need to accomplish multiple objectives to do it against Missouri.
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This coming Saturday, the South Carolina Gamecocks will take on the Missouri Tigers in the other Columbia in the twelfth edition of the Battle for the Mayor's Cup. It's a matchup that, sounding like a broken record, is uber important for Shane Beamer and his team, as they've only lost three straight conference matchups on one occasion in the Beamer era. What will Carolina have to do to secure a win against an SEC East foe for the first time this season?

1) Get Off The Field

This is both a continuation of our analysis of last week's game and a key that's based on what challenges Missouri's offense will bring this weekend. Still, this Gamecock defense can't afford a repeat of what they've done nearly all season long on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers are great at methodically driving the field and finding ways to score when in the opponent's redzone, but there's one area that South Carolina might be able to exploit: Missouri's 3rd down offense. The Tigers rank just 74th nationally in 3rd down conversion percentage, sitting at 39.5 percent, so if Clayton White's unit can win on 'money downs', they'll give their offense a shot.

2) Maintain Offensive Balance

Last week, Spencer Rattler and the Gamecocks' offense showed signs of true, effective complementary football for the first time this Fall. Facing a Missouri defense that doesn't lack quality talent but doesn't scare you statistically speaking, Dowell Loggains' unit will have an opportunity to go out and replicate what they did against the Gators this past weekend. We saw how much the run game opened up Loggains' offensive playbook in week seven, and having that this weekend could yield even greater success for South Carolina.

3) Win the Third Quarter

Some may be wondering why I'm saying this fifteen-minute stretch is one where the Gamecocks have got to excel. Here's my rationale: when looking back at every game South Carolina has played away from Williams-Brice Stadium, Shane Beamer's squad was in every game when they got to halftime. However, in each of those contests, the defense put up a valiant fight in the third quarter but didn't get much offensive help to really put pressure on their opponent, being outscored 35-7 in this period away from home this season. This trend has to be halted on Faurot Field if Carolina wishes to head back to their Columbia with a victory.

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