Missouri Looks to Turn Season Around in Thursday Night Matchup against Mississippi State
By Sammy Stava
With bowl eligibility in serious jeopardy entering the final month of the regular season, Missouri (4-4, 1-4 SEC) aims to get back on track against Mississippi State (6-2, 2-2 SEC) for a Thursday night contest in Columbia, Missouri. This will be Mizzou’s first Thursday night game in the regular season since 2009, which was a 27-12 loss to Nebraska.
Mississippi State comes in ranked No. 20 in the first College Football Playoff rankings released on Tuesday. Both Missouri and Mississippi State are coming off their bye weeks, and a week off was desperately needed for Mizzou. The Tigers have lost three straight games to Florida, Georgia, and Vanderbilt, only scoring 12 points in that span and being outscored just 40-12. They also haven’t scored a touchdown in their last 13 quarters.
In case you missed it earlier, after being reinstated just last week, quarterback Maty Mauk has been suspended for the rest of the season due to disciplinary reasons. Mauk’s suspension will give Missouri a good idea of where the future of this program is headed with freshmen Drew Lock starting for the remainder of the season at quarterback.
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Meanwhile, Missouri’s defense, which has been outstanding all season, is in for a big challenge on Thursday. They will go up against senior Dak Prescott, arguably the best, if not the best quarterback in the SEC.
While it has been tough sledding for Missouri this season, they have been able to finish strong over the last two years. The Tigers are 8-0 in their last eight games played in November, which is the best record in the SEC in that month.
Missouri is playing their first SEC West opponent this season, and will later play at Arkansas on Thanksgiving weekend. Since the start of 2013, Mizzou is 4-0 against SEC West opponents in the regular season, with wins coming against Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Texas A&M twice.
Can Missouri make it to a bowl game this season? They need a win in the worst way.
Kick-off for Thursday night is set for 8:00 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Next: Mizzou QB Maty Mauk Suspended Once Again
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