The Vitals
Kickoff: 6:30 p.m Central Time
Site: Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium (71,168)
TV: SEC Network Alternate (Mark Neely/Ray Bentley/Alex Corddry)
Radio: Tiger Radio Network/Sirius 145/XM 192 (Mike Kelly/Howard Richards/Chris Gervino)
Series: Mizzou leads 1-0 (last meeting September 6, 1997)
The Matchups
When Missouri Runs the Ball: Eastern Michigan gave up 23 yards rushing on 32 carries in week one, which means the Eagles are ranked third in the country. Of course, it's one game and it was against Mississippi Valley State. Missouri wasn't all that good running the ball, other than the quarterbacks, in week one. The Tigers need to show vast improvement in this area this week. EDGE: MIZZOU
When Missouri Throws the Ball: Drew Lock threw for 280 yards, going almost exclusively to J'Mon Moore and Chris Black against West Virginia. Both of those players topped 100 yards receiving, something no Tiger ever did in 2015. Missouri didn't throw an interception and gave up only one sack. MVSU did throw for 178 yards against Eastern Michigan last year. Lock should look to have a field day and sit out the fourth quarter. EDGE: MIZZOU
When Eastern Michigan Runs the Ball: EMU ran for 281 yards last week. Missouri gave up 5.0 yards per carry last week. But Mizzou is no Mississippi Valley State and Eastern Michigan is no West Virginia. DeMontie Cross did say the scheme for the Eagles is similar to that of the Mountaineers and Missouri will have to prove it can slow down the ground game. It had better. If not, it's gonna be a long year. EDGE: MIZZOU
When Eastern Michigan Throws the Ball: Aarion Penton proved to be worth every bit of the pre-season hype against WVU. He had an interception and was generally the best player in a Tiger uniform. Mizzou now must get consistency from the other side and something approaching a pass rush. But, again, if they can't do those things against Eastern Michigan, it doesn't offer a whole lot of hope. EDGE: MIZZOU
Special Teams: Corey Fatony wasn't great last week, but he's a known commodity. Tucker McCann, less so. Missouri can afford to trot him back out there because the Tigers shouldn't need him to be great to win this game, but if the performance is similar to last week, the Tigers are going to have to look at making a move before the Georgia Bulldogs come to town next week. Eastern Michigan was impressive in the return game a week ago, but again, you just can't judge anything from a game against MVSU. The Tigers should win this matchup on athleticism alone, but our pregame judgment is based almost entirely on how terrible the kicking game looked a week ago. EDGE: EVEN
Coaching: Barry Odom has now coached one game in his career. Chris Creighton has coached 25, but he's lost 21 of them. EDGE: EVEN
Intangibles: EMU has nothing to lose. Mizzou is at home and should be flat out better. Intangibles shouldn't even factor into this game. EDGE: NONE
The Keys
1. Start fast--The only way you lose a game to a 24-point underdog is to let them hang around for an extended period of time. Missouri needs to get going early and put it on cruise control in the second half.
2. Focus on the run--The passing game actually proved it can move the football at times (not all times, but some times) last week. Missouri needs to get the ground game going. The Tigers can with this game without it, but UGA comes to town next week and you won't win that with less than a balanced offense.
3. Make a kick--Or at least have them look decent. It wasn't just that Missouri missed two of its three field goals and had a bad kickoff, it's that the kicks simply looked awful. The ball barely cleared the line a couple of times. If McCann isn't better, you almost can't let him kick against Georgia.
The Prediction
You're probably sensing a them here. Missouri needs to get healthy. Winning this game big won't prove much of anything. Doing anything less than winning it big certainly could. We see a Tiger offense that looks solid, a defense that looks much improved from a week ago and a relatively easy Saturday night in the home opener. FINAL SCORE: MIZZOU 38, EASTERN MICHIGAN 10
