Gamecock Fan: Tigers Win By Two Scores | Missouri Football Podcast

it's time for the mayor cup between the Missouri Tigers and the South Carolina Gamecocks can Shane Beamer and the gamec get some long await revenge against Eli drinks and the tigers or will mizou continue to roll like they have so far this season you are locked on mizou your daily podcast on the Missouri Tigers part of the locked on podcast Network your team everyday [Music] hello Gamecock Nation and tiger Nation welcome to this special crossover edition of the lockdown Gamecocks and the locked on bazou podcast where we cover your respective Team every single day I'm Andrew Lon the host of the lockon Gamecocks podcast and I'm pleased to be joined by the host of the lockon bazou podcast John Miller to discuss the battle for the mayor cup that's taking place this Saturday afternoon between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Missouri Tigers John how everything's going my friend well things are going well I'm busy as a one-arm paper hanger off the field but on the field lots of good Missouri football so far plenty of excitement yeah and of course John we're already halfway through the 2023 football season I think that you and I could both agree that whether our seasons were going good or bad it's always nice to be able to say that we've got college football games coming up on Saturday and this has been a close one between both these teams for several years now so who knows we could be in for another close battle on Saturday but John before we get into Today's Show want to let everyone know that's listening or watching the show that this episode is brought to you by priz piic go to prize.com lockon colge and use code lockon colge for a first deposit match up to $100 daily fantasy sports made easy John the thing that sticks out to me when I originally look at this matchup is the star power that both of these teams offenses have we might be seeing two of the best quarterback wide receiver Duos in all of college football taking the field on Saturday afternoon for South Carolina of course you got Spencer Rattler and wide receiver Xavier Legette and then for the Tigers you got quarterback Brady cook and wide receiver Luther Burton the third who've just been lighting teams up so far this season both of these Duos have but John I want to ask you specifically about Brady cook this is a guy that you've been backing for a very long time now on your show when I put you on the spot back in the summer and said who's going to be the starter this year you said you thought it was going to be Brady cook and you thought that last year maybe he had an injury that sort of held him back from realizing his full potential and so far this season that definitely seems like it has been the case yeah for sure I I just think Brady cook number one obviously he did have a serious laum injury last year in week two that he was able to gut through play through for the rest of the season I think it was pretty clear that that limited him to some extent it definitely did at the time of the injury impressive that he was able to play through that I think a lot of it though one season under his belt as a starter learning how to just manage through a season be the leader of the team I think experience at that position means everything I just talked to Brian Smith my previous episode about this very topic and to be honest I think that's the biggest difference because I don't notice a gigantic difference in say brady Cook's arm strength I think he worked on his mechanics a lot this summer after he recovered from his injury of course and I'm sure that's helped a lot what I'm seeing on film is just a guy who's throwing the ball with more anticipation and more confidence I just think he's processing things much more quickly than he did last season yeah for sure and you know when you look at both of these quarterbacks you could say that both of these guys guys have taken significant strides for South Carolina side think with Spencer Rattler he didn't necessarily have an injury that sort of held him back in the 20122 season but as Gamecock fans would be quick to tell you um there was questionable play calling questionable coaching questionable management overall with this offense a lot of comprehensive verage a lot of personnel packages basically just seemed like the Playbook was a bit too deep for a college football team D loggin has come in and he's changed all that he sort of streamlined this offense and Spencer Rattler he's also worked really hard to try and improve in certain areas he's much better with his pocket navigation that was something that when he got to Colombia he struggled mightily in not knowing sort of when it's time to leave the pocket not knowing how to work his way up in the pocket he's gotten much better at all that he's gotten better at trusting that everything around him is going to work out even though at plenty of junctures so far this season that hasn't always been the case with his offensive line and a lack of a run game and wide receiver court that the last couple weeks has had some trouble getting some separation so Spencer Rattler he has been the show for South Carolina on offense and he's had a great wide receiver to throw to as well in Xavier Legette a guy that coming into this season I think had around 400 or so career receiving yards in the past Four Seasons combined and this year Xavier Legette he actually just it was just announced that he is a mid-season second team All-American I believe according to the Associated Press and their voting system so Xavier Legette has been a big time part of this offense and I know that Luther buron has been a big time piece for the Missouri Tigers offense what all has happened with him this off season what changes have you seen that sort of allowed Luther Burton to take that next step as a superstar wide receiver for the Tigers well like with Brady cook experience matters a lot at that position to burden excuse me just a a a true freshman last season for the Tigers but what you have seen is he's changed his role a lot this season he was an outside receiver last season a lot of times when they throw the ball down the field to him was a lot of sort of jump ball boundary type throws that wasn't necessarily the best use of his skill sets now what you're seeing with his move into the slot you're seeing a guy who is not really your traditional slot ride wide receiver you know don't think of Wes Welker or or somebody like that think of somebody who's more explosive and can do a ton of damage with yards after the catch that's who Luther Burton has been so far this season and I I'd say he's been as good a receiver as there's been in the country I'm actually curious from from your perspective what's been the difference between this version of Xavier Legette and the previous version well John the the biggest change that I've noticed this season is that Xavier Legette has become a receiver that has reliable hands that you could just like you kind of mentioned with jump balls to Luther buron exact get it's kind of the opposite he plays outside near the boundary near the sideline and he's a guy that you know Spencer Rattler he's got full confidence in just kind of throwing up a winging a prayer or 50-50 ball at times and just letting his guy go up there and get it and in the past Xavier Le was a receiver that struggled even just making the simplest of catches but he worked really hard on that this off season according to wide receivers coach Justin stepp from South Carolina he spent a ton of time getting extra work after practices on the football field this past off season and all that has sort of culminated into xab get just finally seeing the light come on and putting it all together and I think that the thing that some fans forget John is that you know sometimes you know I get that these guys come in they have a ton of hype kind of like a Luther birdon was a fstar prospect every that was a four-star Prospect from the state of South Carolina but it doesn't just always click immediately for one reason or another sometimes it takes a while for these guys to just get adjusted and so it is great to see sort of the stories that are unfolding with both of these guys who are for sure going to be playing on Sundays I think for a very very long time once their playing days are over at the Collegiate level but while things have been going pretty good for both of these teams offenses admittedly both these teams defenses left a little bit to be desired what all has happened regarding the unit for South Carolina and for the Tigers as well John and I are going to dive into that in just a few moments right here on lockdown Gamecock and locked on bazou today's show is brought to you by prize Pi prize pick is the number one daily fantasy sports app because it is the easiest and simplest fantasy sports app out there all you got to do is just pick anywhere from two to six athletes in their respective Sport and choose for them 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picks daily fantasy sports Made Easy welcome back to this Thursday crossover Edition between the lockon Gamecock and the lockon missou podcast where we cover your respective Team every single day and as always from both John and I a big thank you to each and every one of you every dayers who stick by us and make our podcast your daily watch on YouTube or your daily listen wherever you get your podcast John let's talk about defense now for both of these football teams because as fun as it's been to talk about the offense and see what our quarterbacks and wide receivers have done for these teams um that hasn't exactly been the case with both our defenses I know that Missouri last year they were kind of one of the bigger surprises in the SEC took some massive steps forward under new defensive coordinator Blake Baker a team that became known for how aggressive they were and their ability to get after the quarterback the sky spitzes and all that good stuff but this year kind of seems like that the Missouri Tiger defense has taken a bit of a step back in certain aspects would you agree with that and if so why has that been the case yeah I I don't think there's any doubt that at least so far first half of the season Missouri hasn't been quite as good defensively as last season which is a bit of a surprise to me Missouri certainly had some question marks especially at Edge rusher perhaps we haven't replaced Isaiah Maguire yet for example but I actually think for the most part The Edge rushers have been okay maybe not quite as good as last year I'll give you that but I think a lot of it's just been well number one I don't think the Missouri defense has been as aggressive as it was last season on the other hand I think Missouri's given up a lot of big plays that really have just been matters of busted coverages miscommunications that sort of thing so for whatever reason if it's because perhaps Missouri's defense is putting a little bit more on these guys plate here an experienced group of of starters without a doubt so I think Missouri's tried to maybe mix it up a little more from what they did last season in which especially against South Carolina in a lot of their games Missouri played a lot of press man coverage and kind of dared you to beat them over the top blitzed brought six or seven in in pressure a lot of times and I think that worked very well against South Carolina last year as we saw I'm curious to see if that works again or if indeed Missouri even tries that plan because I just haven't seen quite as much of that single high type man safe man Pressman coverage I want to ask you something Andrew since Xavier legot typically on the outside does sou South Carolina have any tight ends any slot type players that can exploit Missouri seeming weaknesses in coverage at linebacker and safety well there's a couple guys John that I can point to I think the first player that comes to mind is tight end tryo a transfer from Arkansas that the game Cox has got in the portal this past off season now tryo is not going to blow you way necessarily with his ability to like you know catch a pass three yards down the field and take it for 25 plus he's not that kind of tight end but he has been a guy that's been very reliable is sort of someone that understands sort of how to get open in the shorter areas of the Field Spencer Rattler has done a great job of fighting him the past couple weeks and he's really become sort of that safety blanket that safety valve that South Carina fans kind of hop that he would be when he announced he was coming to Colombia back in December of this past off season Joshua Simon his backup is another guy that could potentially make an impact in this football game he kind of hasn't maybe got as many opportunities as trade KNX up until the last couple of games South Carina's played and he hasn't made maybe a ton of plays but that's kind of because in my opinion again he just hasn't gotten the chance to but he had a big- Time 33 yard catch and run against Florida this past week where he absolutely trucked a Florida defensive back on his way to the end zone so he's a guy that's a bit more of a balance tight end can also help out in the Run game as a blocker and then in the slot amarian Brown is a guy that could also make an impact now granted Brown he has been dealing with a hamstring injury so far this season so I'm not sure if maybe that still is lingering a touch I don't think it is at this point because South count had their by we two weekends ago which gave him extra time so I think sort of rest and recover but haven't seen really Mari Brown made that big of an impact since the Ferman game or North Carolina games where he showed that you know he added some hesitation moves to his game when it came to running after the catch uh this season so the Gamecocks I think have a couple of offensive weapons but not necessarily guys that are absolute game Breakers really outside of Xavier Le get admittedly interesting yeah I just wondered if maybe South Carolina ever moved Legette around or if he specifically is a boundary guy because again if they can get him on a safety at any point that that's the big worry for Missouri I think part of your point last year I think Tennessee actually kind of showed how kind of showed how to break that Missouri defense a little bit if you can just give your if you can can give your quarterback enough time to get the matchup he wants on one of those safeties if you have a good enough receiver core a deep enough receiver core to take advantage I think that's one of the main points yeah then Missouri could be in trouble yeah and for South Carolina that has been sort of the biggest thing this season in terms of the offens is can you give Spencer Rattler some help and that was both the case with the offensive line protecting him in the passing game and also the running game now the good news for South Clown's offense has been that their running game has made some strides the past few weeks it kind of showed some life against Mississippi State because of a uh switch in terms of the who the starter was Mario Anderson Jr will be the running back for Tiger fans to look out for he is a guy that is shorter but he's stocky and he runs angry he does not go down in first Contact very easily I believe he recorded over a 100 yards against Tennessee and he also recorded almost 100 yards again against the Florida Gator just purely on the ground this he's a guy that this team is going to have to rely on because offensive line wise while that unit's been getting better the Gamecocks uh they might be missing one of their key starters up front in right tackle Vera Lee he was moved there this past week but ver Shawn Lee he's one of the leaders of that unit one of the most experienced guys and in my opinion has been one of the few bright spots really up front consistently this year and he is doubtful right now with a lower body injury so if he can't go I can tell you John uh the drop off will be noticeable for South Carolina and I know that the Tigers got guys like Johnny Miller on the edge that can get after the quarterback uh because of the technique that they use and their athleticism so for South's offense they're definitely going to probably have to make some adjustments because of that defensively speaking John I worry a great deal about uh the match up for South car against Luther Burton because if you've watched South Carolina's defense or you've maybe seen glimpses the past few weeks you've probably seen a slot receiver of some kind do a lot of damage against this defense because this defensive coaching staff for whatever reason the past few weeks has decided that they're going to play three safeties basically on the field at once and put one of them in the nickel Corner Spot in Nick Emin worry Nick Emin worry is a good player he's gonna be playing in the NFL one day he was a freshman all- americ and safety last year but that doesn't automatically mean that those kind of guys can just play anywhere in the secondary and be just as good they've been finding out the hard way the past few weeks now part of that's been because of injury couple guys getting dinged up there but last last weekend I really don't know at this point why they've continued to do this Ricky Pier saw at one point he just started getting open pretty much every other play he ended up with over 160 receiving yards in this past weekend's game when South Carolina played the Florida Gator so if the Gamecocks even dare try to do the same thing against Luther bird and I made the joke but I also kind of wasn't joking after the Florida game that if they do that against Luther Burton the Tigers might as well open up the record books offensively and possibly put in a line and a potential number for him after Saturday's game because I I know Luther Burn's a great player the question is is South's defensive coaching staff going to finally make some adjustments in order to try and at least you know maybe slow him down as best you can I don't think you can stop Luther B but if you can't at least slow him down it's going to be a long day for South Carolina on the defensive side of the ball no question about that so with how many close games we've seen in this series over the past several years who did John I think can win this football game will the Missouri Tigers take down another sec East foe or can the Gamecocks get back on the right track we're going to dive into our final predictions for this game in just a couple of moments Today's show was also brought to you by Jace medical everyone should be empowered to care for themselves and their loved ones during the unexpected and that's why Jace medical offers the Jace case the Jace case provides five life-saving antibiotics for emergency use and gives you a peace of mind so that you are not just hoping that you have access to medication in an emergency jce medical makees 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called the mayor's cup can you do how about mayor of South Carolina I'm gonna put you on on the spot right now go I know the last name's rickerman that's all I remember fantastic we are on break and we are the sports guys here I love it I love it so much but you know what when it comes to this this mayor's Cup this Missouri South Carolina football game I I I'm kind of thinking it's going to be a little bit less high scoring than people are predicting I just think this Missouri crowd is going to be electric you know I think people underestimate just how good of an atmosphere for rof field can be when the tigers are actually good okay I'm going to pick it back up here we had a little little video audio snafu little behind the scenes for you there but anyway we're going to pick it back up there with my thought and basically I was saying that I think a lot of people underestimate Columbia Missouri for row field as a home crowd when Missouri is actually good and rocking and frankly it it's been a while since the post Gary pinkle era when you could truly say it and again Missouri lost to LSU wasn't because the fans weren't into it I I just think it's going to be harder for South Carolina to score than maybe people think and also you know Missouri's not going to score 3540 points every single week either I do have Missouri winning this football game but something more like 31 to 20 something like that I'm thinking I I hope it's that comfortable honestly because even though Missouri obviously a seven-point favorite here over at FanDuel sports book I'm not looking past South Carolina whatsoever yeah John for the way I look at this football game I sort of look at this as a game where it's all about the matchups right so for South Carolina's offense I do think that because of Spencer Rattler and what he's done this year and also you know is they really get maybe some of these Supporting Cast members that they do have at certain offensive skill positions I think that South Clon can score some points against Missouri I don't think that's gonna be like last year where sathon offense quite frankly just looked like they didn't know what to do after about the first couple drives of the football game so I think that the Game they're going to have some opportunities on that side of the ball but defensive I just worry about this match up for the Gamecock schematically speaking I don't like the fact that when I watch Missouri's offense I see a lot of horizontal and vertical play action Concepts that they use the Gamecocks have struggled mightily defending the play action the past few weeks especially against Mississippi State who ran a lot of vertical play action and Florida who runs a lot of horizontal play action Concepts because sathon linebackers quite frankly they're just not good enough going sideline to sideline trying to chase down any running backs or tail backs excuse me any running backs or tight ends that are being used in the play action game I also know that Missouri likes to use a lot of motion to try to get themselves the right matchup or maybe see just what Savon is doing in terms of coverage and savcon also dealt with that against Florida and you know I kind of made the argument on my Wednesday show John that that could be a good thing for South Carolina because you've seen some of these things already this year from Plenty of different opponents but if you haven't made the pride adjustments it's not going to matter if you've already seen it and admittedly I kind of feel like that's just the way this game is going to play out so I think Missouri is going to win I think they're going to cover that spread set by the FanDuel odds makers I think Missouri is going to win this contest 38 to 24 over South Carolina and um again I just think that saa's GNA win this game it would have to be in a shootout format spenc would have to have a phenomenal football game and because of how important also it is to have HomeField Advantage this year in the SEC with Missouri having that on top of all this I just don't think that saffron's going to find a way to pull it out at the end of the day I I feel similarly to you do without a doubt I I also think Missouri really is yet to play its a football game this year but on the other hand part of the reason for that is they have been a little bit penalty prone to penalties prone to just bad snaps at certain bad time you know stalling out on drives was just shooting themselves in the foot little bit and well I can't resist this Frank Bieber knows something about shooting himself in the foot doesn't he butam Ching thank you very much tip your waiters but uh seriously all bad jokes aside I I just I agree with your your analysis of the matchup and honestly back to back to Shane Beamer I think in year two here sure easy to make fun of the guy right now this is kind of a low point he literally accidentally broke his foot because he was so frustrated in this off season I really saw a lot of parallels between the year two for Eli drinkwitz and Shane Beamer because if you remember after 2020 drinkwitz went five and five kind of surprisingly went ahead of the expectations in the coid season all SEC then Missouri kind of fell back a little bit in 2021 22 was better still not quite the break through breakr now it seems like Missouri really is having a true breakthrough in year four so it's just a reminder for all you Gamecock fans out there I don't know if Shane Beamer is ultimately the guy or not but let's not bail on him halfway through season two I mean Florida fans were ready to bail on Billy Napier after like a month it felt like so I just think that's one thing in this conference I've noticed I know college football fans are impatient everywhere but the SEC it truly does mean even more college coaches being on the hot seat yeah no without without a doubt John I completely agree with your sentiments on all of that Shan Beamer uh it is still a building process here at South Carolina and I I've been telling people on my end I think that you know 2025 is probably the year that you can expect maybe him to finally have that breakthrough maybe kind of like Eli drinkwitz has had so far in the 2023 season either way you slice it it sure to be one fun matchup between the Gamecocks and the Tigers John appreciate you coming on to this crossover show and it's always great talking to you for all of you Gamecock and Missouri Tiger fans if you are a Gamecock fan you to listen or watch some of John Miller's content be sure to go check out lockon maou on YouTube wherever you get your audio podcast also give him a follow locked on maazou on Twitter that's MZ zo for all you missou tiger fans if you want to check out what I've been saying about this matchup go check out the lockdown Gamecocks podcast on YouTube wherever you get your audio podcast and you can follow me on Twitter at aonor SCC and by the way the line is spelled l yo n just like the animal but spelled differently John thank you once again for coming on yall have a great rest of your day and we'll be sure to catch yall on our next shows on the lock on Gamecocks and the locked on maou podcast