Perhaps Missouri's (2-0) biggest game of the season is its Week 3 showdown with No. 15 Kansas State (2-0) on Saturday in front of the first sellout crowd in the Eli Drinkwitz era at Faurot Field.

The Tigers and Wildcats each defeated an FCS team and a Group of 5 team prior to this matchup, but the way they won those games was vastly different.

One team has consistently been able to start and finish games strong in dominant performances while the other has had a little more of a rockier start than expected.

Much like the 2022 season, the Tigers will get as far as their defense takes them. So far, this year's defense has done what they needed to do, to prove they're as good as last year's 34th-ranked defense and possibly better.

In Week 1, the Tigers' defense was on the field for 10 South Dakota possessions, not including a one-play possession prior to halftime.

A week later, the defense was on the field for nine Middle Tennessee State possessions, not including a one-play possession before halftime.

*MTSU's second-quarter possession started with less than a minute to go in the first quarter and went eight minutes into the second quarter.

In the chart above, the Tigers' defense has forced opponents to punt 11 times, commit two turnovers on downs, score three touchdowns and score 27 total points (two points came on a safety). However, they haven't forced a turnover this season.

So, the good thing for Missouri is that its defense usually gets off to a good start with South Dakota and MTSU punting on all of their first-quarter possessions.

However, in the fourth quarter the performance has tailed off just a bit with a couple of touchdowns allowed.

Nonetheless, they still do a good job finishing the game.

*Mizzou's second third-quarter drive concluded with a touchdown several seconds into the fourth quarter.

The bad thing is Missouri, more or less, didn't start either game well offensively.

Against South Dakota, the Tigers had moderate success and got two touchdowns sandwiched between a punt and a missed field goal. Getting in field goal range would seemingly indicate the Tigers moved the ball downfield well, but they didn't on that drive.

Missouri started that possession on their own 46-yard line and only got 24 yards on six plays.

So, it wasn't like the Tigers just happened to miss the kick after a long and efficient drive. They just happened to benefit from getting the ball where they got it to start the drive.

Then, in the fourth quarter, they turned the ball over, punted and then scored a touchdown on their final drive.

Against MTSU, they punted on their first three of four possessions meaning they ended the first quarter up just 3-0. Fast forward to the fourth quarter up 23-10, they punted on MTSU's 44-yard line, gave up a safety and then struggled to close the game (although, they did in fact close it).

Mizzou has a good defense but the eye test says Kansas State’s has been playing just a bit better even though the Tigers are the 16th ranked defense and the Wildcats are the 21st ranked defense.

The Wildcats’ defense has forced 13 punts, four turnover on downs, an interception, a fumble, a pair of field goals and a touchdown, all while scoring 13 total points on the season.

When the Wildcats faced their FCS opponent, SEMO, in Week 1 it was the type of performance you'd expect from a top-25 team or even just a decent Power 5 team playing against an opponent like that. They forced eight punts and two turnovers on down.

From start to finish, the Wildcats controlled the game.

Then, when they faced last year's Sun Belt champions, the Troy Trojans, in Week 2, they made sure the offense didn't get any momentum by forcing a punt, turnover on downs and an interception on their first three drives.

To close it out, the Wildcats only allowed a field goal, a turnover on downs and forced a fumble.

The Wildcats' defense has shown through two games they can play a whole game competently, but that they definitely can start and finish games with a bang.

In Week 1, Kansas State had 11 possessions and scored seven times, with six touchdowns.

SEMO started the game with the ball and punted on their opening drive, which the Wildcats turned into a touchdown. Then, a couple of drives later, SEMO punted again, which Kansas State capitalized on with another touchdown.

By the time the fourth quarter came around, the Wildcats were up 38-0 and were letting some of their depth pieces play, which probably played a part in their turnover on downs and punt.

Versus Troy, Kansas State had 12 possessions, not including a kneel-down to end the game.

The Wildcats started the game with the ball and put pressure on the Trojans by scoring a touchdown and then scoring another touchdown right after they forced a turnover on downs.

Then, in the fourth quarter, they essentially did the same thing. They scored a touchdown, forced a turnover on downs and forced a fumble to end the game.

If you look back to last year’s matchup between the rivals, this is a lot like how Kansas State played the Tigers last year.

Mizzou started off with the ball and was able to score a field goal and then the Wildcats were able to strike back with a touchdown, then force a punt and score a touchdown before making Mizzou punt on three straight possessions before the half.

Then, after Mizzou had a string of four straight turnovers that led to a couple of Kansas State field goals, the Wildcats scored two touchdowns after Missouri punted on its first two fourth-quarter possessions.

Infamously, the Tigers scored a touchdown on the final possession down 40-6 after they got an untimed down to end the game at the goal line, but by then, the game had been well out of reach.

Overall, the Tigers have shown an inability to start fast and finish strong on offense. Their bread and butter quarters happen to be the second and third, when they've scored six touchdowns and had a chance to add a field goal.

However, the problem is a team like Kansas State has demonstrated they can take advantage of the Tigers' poor starts and finishes.

When the Wildcats receive the ball, they’ve shown they know how to score on the first drive.

If the opponents get the ball first, they’ve shown they know how to get a stop on defense, get the ball back to their offense and score, then put the pressure right back on the opposing offense.

So, if Missouri hopes to knock off its rival this week, it'll have to be on its A-game and possibly more.

The Tigers will have to start strong and finish stronger, and if they have any finish that resembles what they did down the stretch of their first two games of the season, they'll have little to no chance of coming out of Saturday's game victorious.

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