COLUMBIA — A look at South Carolina’s 2016 opponents continues with Mississippi State, USC’s one-time permanent cross-divisional opponent, whom due to conference expansion the Gamecocks are playing for the first time since 2013.
There’s never an ideal time to venture to Starkville, the — well, starkest outpost in the SEC. But South Carolina’s timing might be right in playing the Bulldogs for the first time in three seasons, given that the Gamecocks conveniently avoided MSU during one of the better stretches in school history.
Dak Prescott, the quarterback who led Mississippi State to a No. 1 ranking and Orange Bowl berth in 2015, and single-handedly carried the Bulldogs to 9-4 campaign a year ago, is gone.