The Missouri Tigers (7-3, 3-3 SEC) dropped a thrilling game against South Carolina to essentially end their College Football Playoff hopes. But there’s still two regular seasons and a bowl game left.
First up, the Tigers will finish the true-road game schedule in Starkville, Miss., where they will face Mississippi State (2-8, 0-6 SEC).
The Bulldogs ended a seven-game losing streak with a 45-20 win against UMass two weeks ago, but dropped a 33-14 game against Tennessee last weekend to stay winless in conference play.
Missouri opened as an 8-point favorite according to Circa Sports.
Here’s a glance at Mississippi State and what Missouri will face at 3:15 p.m. Saturday in Mississippi.
When: 3:15 p.m. CT, Saturday
Where: Davis Wade Stadium, Starkville, Mississippi.
TV: SEC Network
RADIO: Tiger Radio Network
The Tigers and Bulldogs have played only four times with Mississippi State winning the two matchups since Missouri joined the SEC.
The most recent matchup was a 51-32 Bulldog win in Starkville in 2020 and Mississippi State won 31-13 in 2015 in Columbia.
Missouri won 47-30 in a non-conference matchup in Columbia in 1984 and a 14-3 non-conference road matchup in 1981.
Scoring offense: 27.6 (No. 72)
Scoring defense: 34.4 (No. 117)
Rushing offense: 146.9 (No. 82)
Rushing defense: 214.5 (No. 126)
Passing offense: 238.9 (No. 53)
Passing defense: 246.3 (No. 103)
OFFENSE
Michael Van Buren Jr., QB
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound freshman took over the quarterback spot in Week 4 against Florida after transfer senior Blake Shapen hurt his shoulder and was knocked out for the season.
In eight games, Van Buren Jr. has passed for 1,415 yards and completed 107-of-196 (54.6 percent) of his passes. He has nine touchdowns and five interceptions.
His best games came at Georgia and against Arkansas.
At Georgia, he completed 20-of-37 passes for 306 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, and got shoved by Georgia coach Kirby Smart.
Against Arkansas, Van Buren completed 22-of-31 (71 percent) of his passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns, but he did have two interceptions.
He hasn’t had another two-interception game, though he did throw one each against Georgia, Texas A&M and Tennessee.
He has not been a rushing threat this season, never totaling more than 15 yards in a game and racking up -5 yards on 57 attempts this year when including sack yardage.
Davon Booth and Johnnie Daniels, RBs
The pair of running backs have combined for 1,106 yards and eight touchdowns, both averaging between 50-60 yards per game.
Booth, a 5-10, 205-pound senior, leads the way at 597 yards and four touchdowns, while also catching 10 passes for 124 yards and four touchdowns.
Booth has grown into the lead back the past four weeks with games of 79 rushing yards and two catches for 31 yards and a score against Texas A&M, 93 rushing yards and a 54-yard receiving touchdown against Arkansas, 76 rushing yards and a score against UMass and 125 rushing yards and a touchdown against Tennessee.
Booth also often returns kicks, taking 11 back for a combined 281 yards (25.55 per return).
Daniels, a 5-10, 200-pound junior, has 509 yards and four rushing scores to go with seven catches for 72 yards.
His best game was a 92-yard performance against UMass, but he has games of 77 yards and a score against Florida and 75 yards against Texas.
Kevin Coleman, WR
The 5-11, 180-pound junior has totaled about a third of the team’s total receiving yards with 756 on 62 catches with five touchdowns.
He has surpassed 100 yards three times, a four-catch, 103-yard game against Arizona State, an eight-catch, 103-yard performance against Georgia and an eight-catch 100-yard performance against Arkansas.
His touchdowns came one each against Eastern Kentucky, Arizona State, Toledo, Texas A&M and Arkansas.
He has also returned 11 kicks for 134 yards (12.18 per return), but most of that came on five returns against Eastern Kentucky in the first game of the season.
DEFENSE
Isaac Smith, Safety
The 6-0, 205-pound sophomore leads the team with 101 tackles in nine games played. He recorded 20 tackles against Tennessee last week.
He has broken up two passes and forced a fumble against Florida.
Corey Ellington, Safety
A 6-3, 200-pound senior, Ellington leads the Bulldogs with three forced fumbles in just seven games played. He forced one each against Florida, Texas and Arkansas.
He has totaled 39 tackles this year with nine each against Arkansas and UMass, and he has one tackle for loss against Texas to go with three pass breakups.
Brice Pollock, Corner
The 6-1, 190-pound sophomore, leads the Bulldogs with seven pass breakups. He had one each in five of the season’s first six games, then two against UMass.
In 10 games, Pollock has 38 total tackles with his season-high of six coming against both Arkansas State and Texas. He has one tackle for loss coming last week against Tennessee, one forced fumble against Georgia and an interception against Georgia.
Nate Noel vs. Mississippi State’s front 7
The Bulldogs have allowed a lot of rushing yards this year. An SEC team having the No. 126 rushing defense per game out of 133 teams is crazy. The only other power-conference team below No. 120 is Oklahoma State at No. 132 (shoutout my Cowboys, what a year).
Noel, Marcus Carroll, Jamal Roberts and Kewan Lacy all have an opportunity to dominate the game and keep pressure off of Brady Cook as he continues to recover.
If the Mizzou running backs are able to take advantage of a really struggling run defense, that will be big for the Tigers.
Missouri’s offense vs. the red zone
Mississippi State allows a lot of yards and a lot of points. The Tigers cannot continue to struggle in the red zone as they have all year.
Settling for field goals might be enough to win this game, but if the Tigers are regularly sending out Blake Craig, that’s a bad sign. This is not a defense that should be able to stop any of the running backs, Theo Wease or Luther Burden in tight situations.
Mizzou should be reaching the end zone every time it gets to the red zone this week.
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