COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Quarterback Michael Scarnecchia spent years dreaming of starting at South Carolina, until he learned about things even bigger than his wishes.

That’s what made the Gamecocks senior, making his first college start, so pleased with his performance against Missouri on Saturday.

“Once you realize it’s about South Carolina, it’s about the team, it’s about helping the university any way you can, it’s a calming feeling,” Scarnecchia said. “It’s playing a bigger part in the bigger picture.”

Scarnecchia certainly did that Saturday, throwing for three touchdowns and leading the Gamecocks (3-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) to Parker White’s 33-yard, game-winning field goal with two seconds left in a 37-35 win over the Tigers (3-2, 0-2).

Scarnecchia, part of South Carolina since 2014, was called on with starter Jake Bentley sidelined with a knee injury. And he rose to the challenge in a rain-affected, weather-delayed game that took more than five hours to finish.

For Scarnecchia, few moments were bigger than a 27-yard pass to tight end Kyle Markway into Missouri territory and a 12-yard toss to Bryan Edwards moments later on the final drive that set up Parker’s winning kick.

“I felt like I was really prepared,” Scarnecchia said.

Few were prepared for a game like this. The Gamecocks trailed 23-14 at halftime, yet inexplicably rallied for a 31-23 lead as rain poured down throughout the third quarter.

Parker’s second 42-yard field goal gave South Carolina a 34-32 edge with Missouri driving when radar showed lightning in the area with 2:41 to go that led to a weather delay of one hour, 16 minutes.

Once the game resumed, Missouri’s Tucker McCann hit a 57-yard field goal that put the Tigers up a final time, 35-34, with 1:18 left.

That’s when Scarnecchia drove the Gamecocks one last, dramatic time. When White’s kick sailed through, only a few thousand soggy fans remained from the announced crowd of 73,393.

“Wow, what a game, a wild game,” South Carolina coach Will Muschamp said.

Scarnecchia had first-half TD passes of 5 and 17 yards to Edwards in the first half and 8 yards to Deebo Samuel in the third quarter.

Scarnecchia completed 20 of 35 passes for 249 yards.

“We’ve got confidence in Mike,” Muschamp said. “He’s never been able to perform on this stage and he did it well.”

Missouri’s Lock, the SEC leader at 320 yards passing a game coming in, was held to his lowest total of the season at 204.

The Tigers had eight trips inside South Carolina’s 20 and came away with just three touchdowns. Coach Barry Odom thought those lost chances cost his team.

“I’m trying to put on a good face right now, because I’m not happy,” he said.

THE TAKEAWAY

Missouri: This was the Tigers game to win as they squandered four chances to score touchdowns when inside South Carolina’s 20, instead settling for field goals. Missouri will have to learn to close these out if it hopes to rise in the SEC East.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks looked like a team without much spirit in the opening half. The third-quarter rains changed all that as the Gamecocks rebounded in difficult circumstances in the come-from-behind victory that should serve them well going forward.

TAKE A BREAK

Muschamp thought this was the craziest game he’d ever been in. The rain knocked out both the time and play clocks in the third quarter, headsets were lost and the rain was so heavy players were sliding after runs and tackles. And just when it looked like it might conclude, lightning in the area caused a lengthy delay with less than three minutes left.

INJURED GAMECOCKS

Bentley, a junior, sustained his knee injury at Kentucky last week. He practiced most of the week, was suited up and went through warmups with his team.

Muschamp said he would know better about Bentley’s status for next week by Tuesday.

UP NEXT

Missouri: Plays at No. 1 Alabama next Saturday night.

South Carolina: Hosts Texas A&M on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Former Mizzou standout RB Devin West, a Mid-Missouri native from Moberly and former All-American, is Mizzou’s honoree in this year’s 2018 SEC Legends Class, announced Tuesday by the league office. West, along with the legends from the other 13 SEC schools, will be honored at this year’s SEC Championship Game in Atlanta on Dec. 1.

Devin West was a first-team All-American as a senior in 1998 and a semi-finalist for the Doak Walker Award, given to the top running back in college football. He rushed for an MU-record 1,578 yards (ranking fifth natioanlly), and 17 touchdowns his senior season.

West was a lightly-known recruit from small-town Moberly, Mo., who developed into a key leader and contributor in Mizzou’s turnaround that saw the Tigers reach consecutive bowl games in 1997 and 1998, after going without a bowl appearance from 1984-96.
The 1998 team defeated West Virginia in the Insight.com Bowl, marking MU’s first bowl victory since 1981. West was only the second Mizzou running back to earn All-America honors and was the first since Bob Steuber in 1942. For his career, he rushed for 2,954 yards and 28 touchdowns, including a Mizzou single-game record of 319 yards against rival Kansas in 1998.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball earned its first preseason top-25 ranking of the 2018-19 season as Lindy’s Sports ranked Mizzou No. 12 in its Preseason Women’s Basketball Top-25 poll. In addition to the top-15 team ranking, senior Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) was selected to the Preseason Second-Team All-America list.

In 2017-18, Mizzou earned a third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since 1984-86. Head Coach Robin Pingeton’s squad won 24 games for the first time since 1983-84 and earned a No. 5 seed in the Big Dance, its highest seed in program history since the tournament moved to 64 teams.

Mizzou returns three of its five starters from last year’s team, including Cunningham, who has earned an All-SEC First-Team selection each of the past two seasons. Cunningham averaged 18.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in her junior campaign, and was the only player in the nation to shoot better than 54 percent from the field (54.2 percent, 186-for-343), 45 percent from three (45.7 percent, 69-for-151) and 83 percent from the free throw line (83.6 percent, 133-for-159).

Also returning for Mizzou is redshirt senior Lauren Aldridge (Marshfield, Mo.) and junior Amber Smith (Shreveport, La.), who each started all 32 games for the Tigers last season. In her first season with the Black & Gold, Aldridge set a new single-season program record in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.2 while leading the team in assists with 113 and scoring 6.7 points per game. Smith, the 2017 SEC Freshman of the Year, made a significant jump in production from her freshman to sophomore campaign, improving from 5.9 points and 2.8 rebounds in 2016-17 to 9.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in 2017-18.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Georgia coach Kirby Smart learned plenty in his days as an assistant under Alabama’s Nick Saban.

Among those lessons was a tendency to nitpick victories. After the second-ranked Bulldogs beat Missouri 43-29, Smart bemoaned his defense’s inability to stop the run and some costly mistakes that turned a potential blowout into the closest game of the season.

He was finally asked if it said something about Georgia that the team could play a little sloppy and still win by two touchdowns.

“It says that we can handle some adversity on the road, and that when we’re challenged, we responded well,” Smart said. “But I’m not pleased with the discipline and composure we played with.”

Missouri (3-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) entered the game ranked seventh nationally in total offense and Drew Lock had 11 touchdown passes. Georgia (4-0, 2-0 SEC) held Lock without a touchdown pass, but yielded 172 yards rushing and four TDs on the ground.

“I would have thought they would struggle to run the ball,” Smart said. “We pride ourselves on not allowing people to run the ball, and if you asked me, `What’s the one most disappointing thing?’, it’s that they were able to run the ball.”

Georgia committed seven penalties for 66 yards — not an egregious total — but Smart was upset at the nature of the penalties. He dropped face-first to the turf in the third quarter when a roughing-the-passer penalty erased a third-down stop.

The Bulldogs opened a 20-7 halftime lead without an offensive touchdown. In the first quarter, Georgia cornerback Tyson Campbell stripped Missouri tight end Albert Okwuegbunam, scooped up the ball and returned it 68 yards for a touchdown — along the way, he picked up an accidental downfield block from an official against Lock. In the second quarter, Eric Stokes burst off the left side of the Georgia line, blocked a punt and returned it 8 yards for another TD.

“They were bailing us out in the first half,” Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm said of the defense. “Even with the offensive struggles, it was awesome to look up and see 20 points up on the board.”

Georgia couldn’t quite shake Missouri in the second half, as the offenses matched each other score for score.

Fromm threw touchdown passes of 33 yards to Riley Ridley, 61 yards to Jeremiah Holloman and 54 yards to Mecole Hardman. Fromm completed 13 of 23 passes for 260 yards. Elijah Holyfield rushed 14 times for 90 yards, and D’Andre Swift added 16 carries for 71 yards.

Missouri’s Larry Rountree III, Damarea Crockett, Tyler Badie and Lock all scoring rushing touchdowns. Lock completed 23 of 48 passes for 221 yards, and Okwuegbunam had nine catches for 81 yards.

“We spotted them 14 points,” Missouri coach Barry Odom said. “Defensively, we did some good things. Was it good enough? No, because we didn’t win the game.”

THE TAKEAWAY

Georgia: The Bulldogs have now cleared two divisional road hurdles on their way to the SEC championship game in Atlanta. Georgia won at South Carolina in week two.

Missouri: The Tigers had won nine straight regular-season games before falling to Georgia. The task now is avoiding a losing streak as Missouri continues the season’s toughest stretch with games at South Carolina and No. 1 Alabama.

HOLDING HALL

Last year, Missouri wide receiver Emanuel Hall burned Georgia’s secondary for two 63-yard touchdown catches. Smart said star cornerback Deandre Baker made it clear all week he wanted to cover Hall, who entered the game with 430 receiving yards on the season. Baker dominated the matchup Saturday, holding Hall without a catch.

“I give thanks to my D-line, guys like D’Andre Walker, Tyler Clark and Brenton Cox coming off the edge giving the quarterback pressure and batting balls, sacks, strip-fumbles, things like that,” Baker said. “It’s another day at the office for me. I don’t give myself too many pats on the back.”

QUESTIONABLE CALLS

Odom said he questioned an official about whether Okwuegbunam’s forward progress was stopped before Campbell stripped the ball from him.

“They called it like they saw it,” Odom said. “I’ve got great trust in Southeastern Conference on the officials that we have and making the right call.”

On Missouri’s second drive, Tucker McCann’s 41-yard field goal attempt was ruled wide right. The Tigers thought it was good.

“I don’t know,” Odom said. “I mean, everybody thought it was good. The officials said it wasn’t. Must not have been.”

POLL IMPLICATIONS

There isn’t much room for upward mobility for the second-ranked Bulldogs. The question is whether voters will penalize them for not dominating Missouri.

UP NEXT

Georgia: The Bulldogs return home to play Tennessee.

Missouri: The Tigers have an off week before traveling to South Carolina.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou junior K Tucker McCann has been named among the Lou Groza Awards Stars of the Week, announced Monday by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. This is the first time that McCann has earned this distinction.

Mizzou is still undefeated thanks to kicker McCann’s 25-yard field goal as time expired to give the Tigers a 40-37 road victory over Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind., Saturday. The junior from O’Fallon, Ill., was 4-for-5 on field goals with makes of 40, 31 and 29 yards in addition to the game-winner. His lone miss was blocked from 50 yards out. He added four PATs for a 16-point game. With eight field goals on the season, McCann is tied for second in the nation and leads the SEC in scoring through three weeks of play.

McCann and the Tigers return home this Saturday to host No. 2/3 Georgia in a battle of SEC East unbeatens. The game will air at 11 a.m. on ESPN 1550 AM.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Football standout WR Jalen Knox (Mansfield, Texas) is the SEC Freshman of the Week, announced Monday by the league office. Knox is the first Mizzou player to earn an SEC weekly honor this season and it is the first career nod for Knox. He is the first Mizzou player to earn SEC Freshman of the Week honors since Nov. 20, 2017, when TE Albert Okwuegbunam earned the distinction.

Last Saturday at Purdue, Knox had a break-out performance in Saturday’s win at Purdue, as he caught five passes for 110 yards (both career highs), including his first collegiate touchdown, which came on a beautiful skinny post route that he took in stride and raced 59 yards untouched to paydirt to give Mizzou a 20-10 lead early in the second quarter. His contributions were crucial for the Tiger offense, as they were without the services for most of the game of senior WR Emanuel Hall, who was limited with a groin injury.

Knox turned in only the fifth 100-yard receiving game by a true freshman in Mizzou history. The feat was accomplished last in 2016 by former Tiger Dimetrios Mason (twice), and prior to that, in 1999 by Travis Garvin and in 1984 by Andy Gibler.

Knox and the Tigers return home this Saturday to host No. 2/3 Georgia in a battle of SEC East unbeatens. The game will air at 11 a.m. on ESPN 1550 AM.

— Mizzou Athletics —

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Tucker McCann kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired to lift Missouri to a 40-37 victory over Purdue on Saturday night.

Missouri (3-0) is off to its best start since 2015 while Purdue (0-3) faces its worst beginning of the season since 1996 when they last opened with three losses.

The Tigers turned to often McCann often to help stay ahead of the Boilermakers. McCann was 4 of 5 on field goals, including the game-winner from 25 yards.

Drew Lock finished 26-of-43 passing for 375 yards with three touchdowns and an interception for Missouri. He ran for negative-10 yards and a TD.

David Blough was 39-of-55 passing and had a career-high and program record 572 yards passing for the Boilermakers. He threw three touchdown passes and an interception, and ran for 18 yards on six carries with a touchdown.

The Boilermakers also relied on their kicker. Spencer Evans was 3 of 4 on field goals, including a 26-yarder with 3:28 remaining to tie the game at 37.

That came at the end of a thrilling and chaotic finish after the Boilermakers came back from 17 points down in the first half. They tied it 27-27 with Evans’ 29-yard field goal early in the third quarter.

Missouri built a 27-10 lead after scoring twice in the second quarter, both on touchdown passes from Lock, including one from 59 yards to Jalen Knox, and a 2-yard pass to Albert Okwuegbunam with 7:10 remaining in the half.

Blough completed passes of 34 and 14 yards before scoring from a yard out to make it 27-17 with 2:42 left in the second quarter. Then Jacob Thieneman blocked Missouri’s 50-yard field-goal attempt and Blough threw a 3-yard TD pass to Brycen Hopkins to cut Missouri’s lead to 27-24 at halftime.

THE TAKEAWAY

Missouri: The Tigers’ offense continues to be dominant. They finished with 608 yards on offense and extend their regular-season winning streak to nine games in which they have scored 40 or more points.

Purdue: The Boilermakers saw another game slip away. They’ve now lost on a last-second field goal for the second time in three games.

UP NEXT

Missouri: The Tigers open SEC play against No. 3 Georgia on Saturday.

Purdue: The Boilermakers host Boston College on Saturday in the first meeting between the programs.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, MO. – Mizzou Basketball has signed talented guard Christian Guess to its 2018 recruiting class, head coach Cuonzo Martin announced Saturday. Guess is a 6-foot-5 wing from Cleveland, Ohio, who attended Shaker Heights High School. He is immediately eligible to play in the upcoming 2018-19 campaign.

Guess chose Mizzou after drawing interest from West Virginia and DePaul, among others. The standout guard is a proven scorer, averaging 26.2 points per game during his senior campaign at Shaker Heights.

Guess poured in a school-record 57 points in an early-season matchup with Mentor despite checking out for the game’s final 3:56

“We’re very excited to have Christian join our Mizzou Basketball family,” Martin said. “He has tremendous athletic ability and a scorer’s mentality. Christian’s competitive drive and desire to get better will fit right in with our program. We’re looking forward to getting him to Mizzou.”

Guess finished his senior campaign with 496 total points and 21 double-figure scoring games, notching 20 or more points 14 times and 30 or more on four occasions. He led Shaker Heights to its first District Championship since 2015 before falling in the Regional Semifinals despite scoring 30 points.

Guess earned Second-Team All-Cleveland.com Fab 50 All-Star recognition and Second-Team All-Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association Second Team honors after his senior year. After transferring from Glenville High School, Guess appeared in nine games as a junior, scoring 23 points in the District Semifinals vs. Maple Heights.

At Glenville as a sophomore, he was a Second-Team Northeast Lakes All-District honoree after averaging 22.5 points. He played varsity basketball his freshman year at Glenville, chipping in 12 points per game.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball will play 11 conference contests in front of national television audiences in 2018-19, as the Southeastern Conference announced television selections and tipoff times Wednesday. Up to four of Mizzou’s 11 nationally televised games will be on ESPN or ESPN2.

Mizzou’s first nationally televised game of the SEC slate will be a road trip to Tennessee on Jan. 6 (1 p.m. CT), which will be broadcast on ESPN2. After a home contest against Arkansas (Jan. 10, 7 p.m. CT) on SEC Network Plus, the Tigers will then play four consecutive games on ESPN, ESPN2 or SEC Network, beginning with an away contest with Florida on Jan. 13 (2 p.m. CT) on SEC Network. Mizzou will then host Georgia on Jan. 17 (6 p.m. CT) on either SEC Network or ESPN before returning to the road for games against South Carolina (6 p.m. CT) on ESPN2 and Kentucky on Jan. 24 (5:30 p.m. CT) on SEC Network.

Mizzou will hit the road for a road game at LSU on Feb. 4 (6 p.m. CT) on SEC Network before returning to Mizzou Arena for back-to-back games on SEC Network, hosting Texas A&M on Feb. 7 (6 p.m. CT) and Vanderbilt on Feb. 10 (3 p.m. CT). After visiting 2018 national runner-up Mississippi State on Feb. 14 (8 p.m. CT) on SEC Network, Mizzou will host Tennessee on Feb. 17 (4 p.m. CT) on ESPN 2. Last season, Mizzou set its attendance record for a single game with 11,092 fans in a 77-73 win over the 11th-ranked Lady Vols on Feb. 18.

Mizzou’s final national broadcast will be at Arkansas on Feb. 28 (8 p.m. CT) on SEC Network.

All remaining games will be streamed on SEC Network Plus via the WatchESPN app. All of the games included in the ESPN package (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and SEC Network) will also be available through the ESPN app, which is accessible on computers, smartphones, tablets and connected devices to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.

The full 2018-19 Mizzou Women’s Basketball schedule can be viewed here.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, MO. – Mizzou senior guard Cullen VanLeer will retire from basketball and receive a medical exemption, head coach Cuonzo Martin announced Tuesday. The exemption will allow VanLeer to retain his scholarship, but it will not count against Mizzou’s team scholarship numbers. VanLeer will continue to play a key leadership role in the program throughout the 2018-19 campaign.

“I’m very thankful for the support of Coach Martin and his staff, my teammates, my family and friends, and Mizzou Nation,” VanLeer said. “This was a difficult decision, but one that was best for me, my family and my future quality of life. I’m beyond excited for the season ahead and I’m ready to help lead our team to success in any way I can while I work toward graduation and earning my degree.”

“Cullen is a special young man and I admire his work ethic and his willingness to do everything in his power to better our program,” Martin said. “I appreciate his contributions to the team and I know his leadership will be a significant asset for us during the upcoming season. I look forward to seeing him walk across the stage with a degree in hand in May.”

VanLeer appeared in 94 games over three seasons, making 33 starts for Mizzou. He poured in 378 points and racked up 96 assists and 136 rebounds in that span. VanLeer helped secure Mizzou’s NCAA Tournament berth a season ago, appearing in 31 games while making 19 triples and dishing 30 assists before suffering a knee injury late in the season.

— Mizzou Athletics —