THE VITALS
KICKOFF: 3:00 p.m. Central
SITE: Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium (71,168)
TV: SEC Network (Dave Neal, Matt Stinchcomb, Olivia Harlan)
RADIO: Tiger Radio Network/Sirius 145/XM 192 (Mike Kelly, Howard Richards, Chris Gervino)
SERIES: First Meeting
THE MATCHUPS
When Missouri runs the ball: Missouri hasn't been great running the ball. This is the week they'd better get healthy. This would be a great week to get a long look at Damarea Crockett and Nate Strong. EDGE: MIZZOU
When Missouri throws the ball: Missouri has the No. 5 passing game in the country. Delaware State has Delaware State's defense. EDGE: MIZZOU
When Delaware State runs the ball: Missouri shut down Nick Chubb and Sony Michel last week. Delaware State does not have Nick Chubb or Sony Michel. EDGE: MISSOURI
When Delaware State throws the ball: Missouri found its pass rush last week, which is a good thing. There are some questions in the secondary, but not enough questions for the Hornets. Bold prediction: Blocking Charles Harris will be a problem. EDGE: MISSOURI
Special Teams: Tucker McCann made some kicks and that was nice. He's a major weapon on kickoffs and Corey Fatony remains one of the better punters around. We don't know anything about the DSU special teams. EDGE: MISSOURI
Intangibles: This game isn't about intangibles. It's about the very tangible idea of an SEC team playing against an FCS team that was 1-10 a year ago (highlights include a 31-30 loss to a team called the Chowan Hawks--your guess is as good as mine where that is--and a 34-7 loss to South Carolina State, which lost 59-0 to Clemson last week). EDGE: MISSOURI
Coaching: Kenny Carter may be an excellent football coach. Thus far, he is 1-12 at Delaware State. EDGE: MISSOURI
THE KEYS
1. Remove Hope Early--It's incredibly unlikely this game is close. But incredibly unlikely things can happen in college football (see Nicholls vs UGA two weeks ago). Missouri needs to remove all doubt from this one in the first quarter.
2. Stay Healthy--You need to let your starters play at least a half, but don't take any crazy risks after that. Veterans should be sitting on the sideline for the final 30 minutes. And there's no reason to play guys like Samson Bailey or Alex Ross. Give them another week to get healthy for LSU.
3. Work on the Weaknesses--Sure, we know Drew Lock could probably throw for 600 yards and eight touchdowns, but why? We've seen the passing game can work. Let's see the running game get some reps. Try a 50-yard field goal. Let me see some of the things we have questions about.
THE PREDICTION
Missouri is going to score a lot. Delaware State is going to score a little. The Tigers could virtually name the score. They're not going to embarrass anyone, but they aren't going to quit playing either. We'll take Missouri 54-7.
Previous Predictions
WVU 27 Mizzou 17
Mizzou 38 E. Michigan 10
Georgia 23 Mizzou 21
