South Carolina went from having a core group of defensive backs who’ve played together for almost three years to missing three of their four starters heading into the Missouri game.

After Will Muschamp was fired Sunday, three starting defensive backs have opted out and won’t play the rest of the season in Jaycee Horn, Israel Mukuamu and RJ Roderick as the fallout from the decision continues.

“That obviously could contribute to it. You don’t know exactly know what’s going on with each individual. There was communication with all these guys. It's been a long year. It’s a different year. When it’s told to young kids that they don’t have to play this year, you can opt out and it doesn’t count it gives them a way out in my opinion,” Mike Bobo said.

“It is a team game. It is about us. It’s not about you individually. Everybody has their own reasons on why they do it. There are no hard feelings to anyone. The guys that are here it has to be about us and not the individual.”

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The Gamecocks had another opt out in Makius Scott too, however the freshman hasn’t played so far this season.

Bobo did say he thinks this is it for the opt outs but “you never know.”

What Bobo’s tasked with now is having a team regroup with four players gone and a team reeling after seeing their head coach fired not even 48 hours ago.

To remedy a little of that, the Gamecock interim head coach said he had a team meeting first and foremost Tuesday before team meetings, a deviation from the trend, to deliver a poignant message.

“We talked about how it’s not an individual sport, it’s a team sport. People in this room today showed up and are ready to go to work,” Bobo said. “We’re going to put our best foot forward and best effort on the field Saturday. That’s not going to happen through words but through action and having good practices today and tomorrow. Those are our two workdays: Tuesday and Wednesday. That was the main message.”

To use some sports clichés, the Gamecocks have to rally the troops and circle the wagons before kicking off against Missouri (7:30 p.m.) with the guys that are still on the roster.

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“The guys that are here are here. That’s no ill will towards anybody. The guys that are here are here and are here for a reason. We have a great opportunity in the face of adversity to rise up,” Bobo said.

“That’s what defines you when you’re able to rise up and handle adversity. It’s an opportunity. It’s an opportunity for us to create memories in this group, in this family. That’s some of the things we talked about. They can’t be words. I can say what I want to say but it has to come from those guys who are still here on this team to dig down and believe and play for each other and play for South Carolina.”