South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp had the following to say during his Sunday evening teleconference as he looked back on the Gamecocks' win over Missouri and upcoming home opener against Kentucky.

** Proud of team for going on the road and coming back from down 10. Responded with a kickoff return for touchdown and an interception and a Deebo Samuel 25-yard touchdown run. Big swing in the game. This team has a strong belief in each other and play for each other.

Players of the game

Offense: Hayden Hurst and A.J. Turner

Defense: Bryson Allen-Williams and Jamyest Williams

DL: Taylor Stallworth and Keir Thomas

Ballhawks: Bryson Allen-Williams, Jamyest Williams, Javon Kinlaw, Ulric Jones and Javon Charleston

Special Teams: Javon Charleston, the entire kickoff return team, the entire field goal block team

ALSO SEE: Missouri observations from photographer Chris Gillespie | Instant analysis on the game from Josh Low | Extra notes including eye-popping stats from Jake Bentley

** Ball possession was critical. Time of possession can be a misleading stat but in a game like this it can be very important. Won the turnover battle, won the red zone battle, won the special teams battle and won the fourth quarter battle. Those are important things they always talk about. Third downs were a huge emphasis and they did a good job on both offense and defense on those.

** Steven Montac is questionable but will know more Wednesday or Thursday. Going to shut him down Monday and Tuesday and see how he feels. Malik Young hurt his ankle a little bit, but is fine. Will determine this week if Dennis Daley or Young is the starter at left tackle.

** Usually have practice on Sunday, but gave the team Sunday off because they got back so late yesterday.

** Watched some of Kentucky. They have good skill people offensively. Benny Snell is a great running back and Stephen Johnson is playing at a high level. Have a lot of respect for their receivers. They're an odd-front scheme defensively and give you problems. Good length at cornerback.

** Muschamp points out Javon Kinlaw was just a one-year JUCO guy so he's only a sophomore. Been very pleased with his progress. He's done a great job of continuing to work.

** Ray Tanner is very forward-thinking in what he wants done as far as gameday atmosphere. Tanner came to Muschamp after last season and had some ideas and Muschamp liked them. Tanner is very open-minded about what they can do to help move the football program forward. He's great, Muschamp says.

** How much does it help with recruiting? There's no doubt people want to see progression and they've seen that. The big thing people hammer them on is recruiting is wins and tradition, so good to see improvement there. Have to continue to improve.