1) The two sweetest words in college football: Game Week. It's here. On Sunday afternoon, Eli Drinkwitz called this week's game "Probably the most difficult opening game that we faced since I've been here."
Sure, Mizzou doesn't have much film on Murray State. The analyst and GAs have been working overtime to find what they can. Week one is always weird. I get it. But, sorry coach, not buying that one. Missouri is a 47.5 point favorite last I looked. The Tigers are going to win the game. It is likely going to be well in hand by halftime. I appreciate Drinkwitz trying to make it into a challenge. That's what coaches do. You can never let your team think it's good enough to just walk on the field and win. This week, Missouri is good enough to just walk on the field and win. The starters could all sit. It wouldn't matter. The talent gap is just too big.
That doesn't mean it will all go perfectly, but there's only been one FCS game in which I've ever learned anything. In 2017, Missouri started the season with a 72-43 win over Missouri State. And you walked out of that game knowing this was a defense with some major deficiencies. You don't give up 43 points to Missouri State with a good defense. Mizzou would lose the next five games before a six-game winning streak against pretty weak competition before losing the Texas Bowl.
Drinkwitz has played three FCS games as Mizzou's head coach. The total margin in those games in 118-55. Missouri hasn't looked particularly good in those games. They gave up 28 to SEMO, struggled to put away Abilene Christian 34-17 and then kind of sleep walked through a 35-10 win over South Dakota a year ago. Mizzou may not win this game by the suggested spread, though if Drinkwitz convinces his team that every week this season is a chance to make a statement, it very well may. Nothing in sports is a guarantee, but I can't draw up a scenario in which Missouri loses this game. At best, it's slightly behind 2020 Alabama for the toughest opener he's faced at Mizzou.
2) I won't draw definitive conclusions after this game, but there are things I'll be watching for. First and foremost, Missouri should dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football. They should wreck Murray State up front. I want to see what the running game looks like with Marcus Carroll and Nate Noel. I'd like to get a look at some of the young guys. I'd like to see Drew Pyne get a chance to run the full offense and see what it looks like in case Missouri needs him in a real spot down the road. I'd like to see Blake Craig have to make a couple of field goals. If Mizzou wins by 40, I'm not going to tell you I know it's a playoff team and if it wins 27-13 I'm not going to tell you I know it isn't. That's not how this works. Big picture, I don't expect to learn anything on Thursday night. But there are aspects of the game that can still be instructive.
3) The depth chart came out on Sunday and it really told us only one thing
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