(Photo: Columbia Day Tribune)
Campus Clash
(9) Missouri Tigers at (25) Texas A&M Aggies
Missouri: They are one of the remaining undefeated teams. You don’t hear much of them because of the conference they’re in. When you play in the same conference as the Georgia Bulldogs, Alabama Crimson Tide, LSU Tigers, Tennessee Volunteers, and now, the Texas Longhorns, it’s understandable as to why you’d get labeled as under the radar. Their bye week took place in week five and it couldn’t have come at a better time I feel. Prior to the bye, they played in close games against the Vanderbilt Commodores and Boston College Eagles in which they were both victorious. They won both contests by a combined 11 points. The Missouri Tigers have one of the best tandems many don’t know about. I’m talking about Quarterback Brady Cook and Wide Receiver, Luther Burden III. Brady has the touch to complete his passes and even when a receiver is a step ahead, he can throw the receiver open which means the ball will fall into the hands of his intended target. When the play breaks down, he can also move and get yards with his feet. Next, I want to talk about Luther (hence the title). It’s unreal what this kid can do. He’s explosive in his route running, fluid in space with the football in his hands, catches everything thrown in his direction, and tracks the ball well down the field. Luther will be the next great receiver in the NFL, mark my words. There are four remaining undefeated teams in the SEC and Mizzou is one of them. They will make a trip to College Station on Saturday.
Texas A&M: When I first saw them this year, it was a Saturday night game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in week one. They struggled out of the gates and were defeated in a tough matchup. That was also the game where Conner Weigman was injured and since then, Marcel Reed has taken over as the starting Quarterback. Since he’s been in, they’ve won three consecutive games. Marcel provides something for this offense that Conner couldn’t which is a dual-threat option. He may not be the best passer as he’s only completing 54 percent of his passes, but he can run the football and get positive yards. Even if Conner is healthy and ready to go, I’m remaining with the hot hand and not doing anything to crush the momentum. Against the Arkansas Razorbacks in week five, it wasn’t pretty, but the Aggies came away with the victory. They did start out trailing, but got back into the game and never took their foot off the gas. One thing I’ve learned about Mike Elko is that he wants to coach physical football. Look what he did with the Duke Blue Devils before taking the job in College Station, they were by far the most physical team in the ACC. Look what they did the other day. Arkansas can score at any time and they were held to just 17 points. For the last few years, I’ve been trying to get a feel for who this football team is. They struggled when Jimbo Fisher was on the sidelines for them. This Saturday, they return to Kyle Field for a conference showdown with Missouri.
Missouri X-Factor: Nate Noel– Pay attention to this guy. Nate has tremendous burst through the tackles and can turn the speed up a few notches when he reaches the second and third levels of the defense. He doesn’t even need all the space in the world to operate. Let him find just a crease and he will take over to do the rest. Nate can also bounce outside and turn the wheels on. He adds another element to this Tigers offense and they will need to feed him the football as early and often as possible.
Texas A&M X-Factor: Marcel Reed- I love what he’s added to this offense. Last week against Arkansas, he did just enough to lead them to victory. Marcel has tremendous upside, but there were times when he would miss open receivers. He isn’t being asked to win games for them necessarily, all they need from him is to control things and most importantly not lose his football team the game. My biggest takeaway has been he’s yet to turn the football over.
Final Thoughts: I can’t believe it’s week six. Time is really flying! We have an intriguing matchup here at Kyle Field. Missouri enters this one fresh off their bye week and Texas A&M won a close battle at JerryWorld in week five. Missouri hasn’t looked that great this year with a favorable schedule. This will also be their first road game of the season. Also, the Tigers have run the football well but haven’t quite gotten the production from their talented receiving corp. I could see the Aggies’ running game paired with Reed giving the Tigers defense all the issues in the world. However, Missouri has been one of the better defensive teams in the nation. Texas A&M has what it takes to upset, but I don’t think they have enough firepower as an offense. I’m picking Missouri on the road here.
Prediction: Missouri 34, Texas A&M 21
