The Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-3, 0-2) will look to stop a seven-game road losing streak Saturday as they travel to take on the Gamecocks of the University of South Carolina (3-2, 1-1). The Gamecocks are coming off a win against SEC East rival Vanderbilt as they host the Bulldogs for Homecoming in Columbia, S.C.South Carolina is led on offense by dual run-pass threat quarterback Corey Jenkins. Jenkins leads the Gamecocks in both categories posting 86 rushing yards per game and 168 passing yards per game.
“Offensively they are going to put the ball in Corey Jenkins’ hands,” said MSU head coach Jackie Sherrill. “Last week against Vanderbilt he had the ball 40 of the 70 snaps, either running or throwing. You are going to have to make sure you tackle him. They will allow him to do some things on his own. They will run a lot of draws, run the option and sprint him out.”
Defensively the Gamecocks depend on the play of two potential all-SEC players Langston Moore and Rashad Faison. South Carolina averages giving up 337 yards per game so far this season.
This season Moore has posted 20 tackles, seven tackles for loss, two sacks, one interception and one forced fumble from the defensive line.
“Defensively they are a copy of our defense,” said Sherrill. “They are doing a lot with it. They are doing a lot of two-deep looks out of it.”
The Bulldogs come into Saturday’s contest looking to improve on the first four games of the season. MSU averages 335 yards per contest, but only 96 rushing yards.
“There has been a lot of improvement other than playing a whole game. We haven’t played a full 60 minutes yet,” said Sherrill. “We have played 2 and 3 quarters at a time, but haven’t played 60 minutes. Consistency has also not been good.”
The Bulldogs will be without center/guard Chris McNeil for the remainder of the season. McNeil had surgery this week to repair ligament damage in his foot.
“Chris (McNeil) was able to play both guard (positions) and center, so it gave us the (opportunity) to rest the center and guards,” said Sherrill. “We will play Donald (Tucker) at left tackle and right guard. Richard Burch will play a lot. But that was our plans all along, to play him and eventually start him anyway. Now, we have to do that quicker. “Also, Brad Weathers will have to play more, although (Johnny) Wadley has come along. We will also get some help with Michael Allen getting healthy and playing. We will also have Will Rogers. He played Saturday. We were going to try and redshirt Manuel Dickson at center, but we may not be able to now.”
Rico Bennett, dog safety, is questionable for the Saturday contest, but the Bulldogs will have Mario Haggan and Nick Turner back. Both Haggan and Turner left the LSU game with injuries.
MSU leads the overall series with the Gamecocks at 6-4, and also has posted three wins in five games at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Kickoff for the Saturday contest is set for 1 p.m. ET and will not be televised. The game will be carried on the Bulldog radio network.