The Missouri Tigers finally got over the hump this past weekend by narrowly beating out Vanderbilt to earn their first SEC win of the year. Although that was a step in the right direction, Mizzou won't face any more opponents quite as conducive to winning as the Commodores were. This weekend, the level of difficulty will ramp up significantly when they hit the road to take on No. 25 South Carolina. Surprisingly enough there is some parallel with both teams as some of Missouri's key players are SC natives overlooked by the previous staff in high school. Let's see how both squads match up coming out of the prep ranks:

Brady Cook, a STL native has had an up-and-down season that has seen his Tigers come up short again and again. He's struggled turning the ball over and getting in sync with his playmakers. Just last week 5 Star Freshman Phenom WR Luther Burden had 2 TDs in the first half and then wasn't targeted once in the second half. He'll have to find ways to get the ball to that guy and get in a groove on the road at a sold-out Williams Brice. This season he has totaled 1428 yards on 65% completion percentage with 9 TDs and 7 interceptions. He isn't a burner by any means but similar to Rattler he can move if he has to but has a much bigger frame to do so. On the ground, he has 162 yards and 2 scores.

The Tigers have a good running back group that features a committee of 3 guys that can consistently make plays out of the backfield. Columbia, MO native Nathaniel Peat is the feature back per se and was committed to Stanford out of high school but came back home to finish off his college career. To compliment him, another MO native in Cody Schrader fills out the RB production. Schrader a former no-star recruit actually leads the team in rushing TDs with 4.

WR Dominic Lovett has been the Tigers' top pass catcher and averaging nearly 15 yards a reception this season. His 35 catches are second in the SEC only behind Tennessee's Jaylin Hyatt. The top-rated WR last year Luther Burden oozes talent and has a Sunday build already as they've got to find more ways to get him the ball in space. Mookie Cooper is another former high-level top 100 player coming out of high school who came back home to play for the Tigers after originally beginning his college career at Ohio St.

The Gamecocks should look to take advantage of a Mizzou O-Line who has struggled this season. This offensive line isn’t the biggest and has had some shuffling amongst the unit with guys playing different spots. These guys weren't very highly touted out of high school but do have experience. They've been average in the run game and have struggled to ease the pressure off Brady Cook which has resulted in some sacks.

As I mentioned this roster does have some guys from the Carolinas, including Trajan Jeffcoat, from Irmo (S.C.) High School who was scouted by the previous staff throughout the 2018 recruiting cycle. South Carolina ended up with just one defensive end and he turned out to be a good one (Kingsley Enagbare) but everyone missed on Jeffcoat. Just a 3-star out of Irmo, he had only one other Power 5 offer in Indiana and has since become an All-SEC performer on a productive Mizzou front 7.

The former South Carolina staff was after 2019 4 Star LB Ty’Ron Hopper hard before he signed with Florida. Hopper, in his first year at Missouri, is one of the best players on the team. He began his high school career in South Carolina at Gaffney before finishing up at Roswell in Atlanta. Hopper and Jeffcoat are 2 of the best players on the team and key contributors to the Tigers' defense.

This secondary isn't full of stars but they are full of good athletes, long, and are very active in a number of ways. Similar to SC, they're a scrappy bunch who play with something to prove as many of them were not recruited hard coming out of high school. SC fans should be familiar with former Clemson transfer Joseph Charleston who transferred to Missouri this past offseason.