Michigan will take on South Carolina in the Outback Bowl at noon on Jan. 1 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
The Gamecocks, led by coach Will Muschamp, finished the regular season with an 8-4 record overall, and went 5-3 in the SEC — good for second-place in the East Division, behind Georgia.
Those four losses came against Kentucky, Texas A&M, No. 3 Georgia and No. 1 Clemson. Texas A&M and Georgia were both on the road.
South Carolina’s best win of the season came in the first week of the year, when it beat North Carolina State 35-28. NC State finished the year ranked No. 24.
Michigan shared one common opponent with the Gamecocks — the Florida Gators. Michigan won its season opener against Florida 33-17, while South Carolina topped the Gators 28-20 in November.
South Carolina beat three bowl bound teams — NC State, Missouri and Louisiana Tech. All three of those victories came in the first four weeks of the season.
On offense, the Gamecocks are led by sophomore quarterback Jake Bentley, who completes 62.4 percent of his passes and has totaled 2,555 yards, 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions this year. He’s also a threat on the ground — rushing 67 times for 86 yards and six touchdowns.
Michigan’s SEC opponent has a pair of sophomore running backs in A.J. Turner and Ty’Son Williams that will be threats. Each have carried the ball 92 times this year. Turner has 517 yards and three touchdowns compared to Williams’ 460 yards and one score.
Sophomore wide receiver Bryan Edwards is the team’s leading wide-out. He caught 59 passes for 705 yards and four scores during the regular season. The team’s most talented player — junior wide receiver Deebo Samuel — was injured early in the season and will miss the bowl game. He had 250 yards and three touchdowns in three games.
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