Powered Up: Answers are Coming
The first four weeks of Missouri's season have answered some questions. Are they better on offense? Unquestionably. Can Drew Lock be a good college quarterback? For sure. Are they winning a national title? No. Okay, we were pretty positive about that answer a month ago.
The point is, we've learned a few things about Missouri. But not a lot. The real learning starts Saturday.
How good is this Missouri team? I really have almost no idea.
I know the Tigers are good enough to beat the worst team I've ever personally witnessed playing on Faurot Field. I know they aren't good enough to beat an above average Power Five team on the road in the season opener. I know they're good enough to play with Georgia for 59 minutes and I know they're bad enough to lose a game to Georgia they absolutely should have won.
How good is Missouri? I haven't a clue.
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I know everyone's riding high after a 79-0 win. Why wouldn't you be? Even against terrible competition, 79-0 (and it probably could have been 119-0 if they'd played a full game and kept the gas pedal down) doesn't happen all that often. The offense has already scored more points than it did all of last year and Lock has more passing yards and his name appears near the top of every meaningful statistical category for a quarterback. And I'm not telling you those things are meaningless. I just don't know how much they mean quite yet.
Because when you look at it, what Missouri has done is beaten two lower-level teams and lost to two mid-to-high level teams (I think West Virginia is better than most thought and I think Georgia is worse, but still solid). Where Missouri is through four weeks is exactly where it should be.
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Saturday night gives us a hell of a litmus test for these Tigers. LSU has had a disappointing start to its season. Those Tigers are 2-2 for the first time since 2001 and has two losses before October 1 for the first time since 2000. But LSU isn't bad. The two losses have come to Power Five teams by a combined seven points (and Wisconsin looks like a pretty salty outfit). LSU may not have Les Miles, but it still has Leonard Fournette and the nation's sack leader and the horses to make a real run in college football's deepest division.
Missouri faces that team in Baton Rouge at 6:30 on Saturday night. The Tigers then get a week off before heading to Gainesville to play a Florida team that is good, but not great. The Gators are good enough to jump to a three-touchdown lead at Tennessee and bad enough to still lose the game by 17. Is Florida beatable? Sure. Is LSU? Yes, but less so.
Win or lose, though, the next two games are going to give us a lot more answers about Missouri. I doubt Drew Lock is still averaging 400 yards passing after those two games and I doubt Missouri scores 79 points combined, much less in one game. I also doubt the Tigers get their doors blown off twice.
Wins and losses are important. But even if Mizzou comes back for Homecoming against Middle Tennessee sitting 2-4, there's a chance we've seen signs of improvement and a belief that this team is better than we thought it would be.
I started the season thinking Missouri was a seven-win team. Writing this 25 days after the season opener, that's still what my gut tells me. But I need another 17 days to know how close to right I am. One month in, a lot of questions remain. We should get some answers in the next two-and-a-half weeks.