For the first time in the Eli Drinkwitz era, Missouri is 2-0 after getting a 23-19 win over Middle Tennessee State in Week 2. However, the Tigers' biggest game of the young 2023 season is a Week 3 matchup versus No. 15 Kansas State (2-0), which is coming off a 42-13 win over Troy in last week.
Kickoff Information
Time: 11 a.m. CT
Location: Faurot Field, Columbia, MO
TV: SEC Network (Taylor Zarzour, Matt Stinchcomb, Alyssa Lang)
Radio: Tiger Radio Network (Mike Kelly, Howard Richards, Chris Gervino)
Series history: Missouri 60-33-5
Spread: Kansas State -3.5
Mizzou Injury Report
WR Mekhi Miller: Questionable
LB Chad Bailey: Questionable
WR Daniel Blood: Questionable
WR Peanut Houston: Out
CB Shamar McNeil: Out
HB Michael Cox: Out
About Kansas State
In his fifth season at the helm, Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman has got the Wildcats on a roll. Last season's Big 12 champions are looking for their second straight win over Mizzou and their fifth straight regular-season win dating back to Week 10 of last season.
The Wildcats run a balanced offense with a good mix of run and pass plays out of multiple personnel groupings.
Starting at quarterback, Will Howard returns after helping lead the Wildcats to the Sugar Bowl. He's gotten off to a blazing start by completing 67.2% of his passes for 547 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. He also has added three rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown.
The team lost first-team All-American running back Deuce Vaughn to the NFL Draft this past April, but it's replaced him with DJ Giddens and Florida State transfer Treshaun Ward.
Together, the backs have combined for 54 rushes (27 apiece) for 294 yards (5.4 yards per carry) and a rushing touchdown by Ward, who also has a receiving touchdown as well.
In the receiving game, the Wildcats have four players with over 100 receiving yards with three of the four having at least one touchdown. That group is led by Phillip Brooks, who racked up seven receptions for 94 yards and a touchdown last week.
This season, he has a team-high 13 receptions for 134 yards and a touchdown.
He is also one of the better punt return specialists in the country and returned a punt for a touchdown in last year's meeting between the two teams.
He's tied for sixth in Big 12 history with four punts returned for touchdowns.
However, the stars of the offense are the five players up front led by preseason All-American left guard Cooper Beebe.
Kansas State has allowed just one sack this season and is eighth in the nation, in that regard. That's likely because the team returns their starting line from a year ago.
Although, the Cats may be without right tackle Christian Duffie.
On defense, they run a 3-3-5, which is a unique defense that has given their first two opponents, SEMO and Troy, some problems.
The alignment of the defensive line tempts opponents into running the ball, and because there are eight defenders off of the ball who are unblocked, it also forces teams to play laterally.
Then, when it comes to pass defense, there is an extra linebacker on the field who can also play passing lanes. So, the windows for making throws are a little tighter than facing the common 4-2-5 defense.
"It's just the uniqueness factor. And so, it's not something that we practice against all the time," Drinkwitz said during the SEC teleconference on Wednesday. "So, in a short period of time, you have to try to get up to speed with what they do. I think the other thing that makes it is they've got good players."
Later in the teleconference, Drinkwitz would mention safety Kobe Savage, linebacker Austin Moore and defensive end Khalid Duke as players the team has to be aware of at all times.
So far, Savage has eight tackles and one tackle for loss on the season, but Missouri may remember that he recorded one of four interceptions thrown by the Tigers in last year's 40-12 win.
Moore had 87 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, four pass deflections, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception last season. This year, he's leading the team with 12 tackles, five tackles for loss (tied for fourth in the FBS) and a sack.
Duke is the star of this defense. He has five tackles, four tackles for loss (tied for eighth) and three sacks (tied for fourth) this season and in Drinkwitz's eyes has filled the role left behind by Kansas City Chiefs first-round pick Felix Anudike Uzomah nicely.
"I know they lost the defensive end from last year, but you wouldn't know it on tape with their addition of Khalid Duke," Drinkwitz said on Media Day Tuesday.
Not to mention, Kansas State brought back veteran linebacker Daniel Green and brought in Iowa Western C.C. transfer Will Lee III, a 6-foot-3 cornerback who has 11 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and an interception this season.
He fills the role previously held by Julius Brents, who was another 6-foot-3 corner who got drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
So far, defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman's defense is allowing 6.5 points per game (seventh in the FBS), 38 rushing yards per game (first), 10 tackles for loss per game (fifth), four sacks per game (ninth) and allowing opponents to convert on third down just 32% of the time (40th).
Missouri will have to find a way to establish the run to open up the pass. It will be hard against this defense, but it would be asking for a lot to have Brady Cook try and fit in tight passes in narrow passways.
On top of that, Kansas State's only truly question mark so far this season hasn't been its secondary.
Mizzou hasn't really been able to capitalize on the deep ball, but that's its best bet to having a successful day on offense.
Also, it's important to note how good Kansas State's special teams have been over the last decade. It hasn't allowed a kickoff return for a touchdown since 2013, and they haven't allowed a punt return for a touchdown since 2019.
However, since 2019, they've scored five punt returns and five kickoff returns for touchdowns.
"I think their team is really defined by their special teams," Drinkwitz said. "A tradition that's been carried over since Bill Snyder, but they're really good on special teams. They play extremely hard. They're very sound, but even more than being sound they create explosive plays on special teams. And really it was the turning point in our game last year. Their punt return for a touchdown really proved to be something that we weren't able to withstand."
The best bet for the Tigers would be to try to punt away from Brooks and like the rest of the phases of the game, they'll have to be on their A-game for special teams no matter if they're receiving the ball or giving it back.
Game Prediction
Jarod: Missouri has shown through two games it has a hard time starting and finishing games strongly. There hasn't been much of an indication to me that this offense can score upward of 24 points, which is the least amount of points I think they'll need to be in the range of winning this game. I think wasted possessions, such as quick three-and-outs, turnovers and or missed field goals, will lead to Kansas State capitalizing on a Missouri defense being on the field too often. I have Kansas State winning 31-17.
Gabe: I think we get another reminder that one week doesn't necessarily impact the next one as much as we think it's going to. I think Missouri makes this a better game than most Missouri fans think. I can't pick the Tigers to win based on what I've seen because I just don't trust them to score enough. I think to win Missouri has to have a non-offensive touchdown. I think the Tigers keep it close and it's a four-quarter game, but I'll go with K-State closing it out 26-17.
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