After their surprising, big win over Florida, the 14th-ranked Missouri Tigers will host the Texas A&M Aggies in an SEC showdown. Before Saturday’s game, 8th-ranked Florida felt like the hottest team in college football and that they could beat any team in the nation. With storylines swirling how head coach Eli Drinkwitz and Missouri having lost nine straight games against teams in the top 25, Missouri came in and dominated Florida 45-17. Quarterback Austin Simmons threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns in the win. He improved his touchdown to interception ratio to 13 touchdowns to 0 interceptions for the season. Running back Jamal Roberts had the best game of his career, running for 211 yards and 3 touchdowns. And the Missouri defense held up on their side of the ball, holding Florida to 42 rushing yards. The win is the reason Missouri climbed 11 spots in the rankings this week. Texas A&M will be looking to play spoiler this weekend as they hope to climb back into the top 25 after falling out after their two losses against Kentucky and LSU.
Texas A&M started this season as the 8th-ranked team in college football, but since then they have dropped out of the top-25 due to inconsistent quarterback play from Marcel Reed and a defense that has not stepped up like it did last season. Reed has struggled with turnovers to start the year. He has thrown 4 interceptions in 5 games, and is passing for less than 200 yards per game on average. The Aggies seemed to have figured out a gameplan that worked last weekend against Arkansas. They ran the ball effectively for 231 total yards. Establishing the run early helped the Aggies pass protection throughout the game. With limited passing opportunities, Reed threw for 170 yards in the win. I don’t have the same confidence this trend will continue against Missouri. The Tigers are one of the best defenses in college football at defending the run. They rank 12th in the nation with only 2.6 yards per carry allowed. We saw how stout their front seven can be when Florida had -21 rushing yards going into the fourth quarter. Without a running game to lean on, Reed will be expected to create more offensive chances. Reed has struggled when under pressure this season, and he will likely be under pressure against Missouri. The Tigers have 11.5 sacks this season. Daeden Hopkins is fifth in college football with 6 sacks already this season. Missouri has shown to be strong offensively and defensively this season, and I believe they will overwhelm the inconsistent Texas A&M quarterback.
Missouri -3.5 is available at the time of publishing. Playable at -4.
