Missouri football (3-3, 0-2 SEC) plays the last of its three-game homestand Saturday against No. 21 Texas A&M (4-2, 1-2 SEC) at a critical juncture for both programs.
In the preseason, this matchup looked like an Aggies team that possessed College Football Playoff potential against a Tigers team with aspirations of finishing in the top half of the SEC East. Now, the first meeting between these teams in seven years takes on a different narrative. Texas A&M is in the midst of discerning its offensive identity, while Missouri is still in search of its first Power Five, much less SEC, victory.
Even though both programs are at the halfway point of their respective seasons, there are still plenty of questions for both programs. Here are five of them that could be answered in Saturday’s contest.
1. Which Texas A&M offense is the real Texas A&M offense: the one from the first five games or the one that knocked off then-No. 1 Alabama?
One of the most shocking results from one of the most unexpected teams in the country occurred last weekend in College Station, Texas, when the Aggies — an 18.5-point home underdog — became the first unranked team to defeat Alabama since 2007 in a 41-38 thriller.
Much of that success came down to a breakout performance from the offense, which remained dormant in Texas A&M’s first two SEC contests. Sophomore quarterback Zach Calzada stole the show, throwing for 285 yards — which nearly matched his pass yardage from the prior two games combined — while adding on three touchdown passes and one interception.
The Aggies gained 300 yards of total offense for the first time against a Power 5 team this season, and that performance rested on the right arm of a quarterback who had only thrown for over 200 yards once in his career.
But can Calzada and the Aggies offense repeat that success this weekend and beyond?
The running back duo of junior Isaiah Spiller and sophomore Devon Achane combined for only 80 yards against the Crimson Tide, but should have an easier time getting past the line of scrimmage against Missouri’s run defense. Spiller and Achane linked up for 169 rushing yards with a 40-plus yard run apiece against Mississippi State’s top-10 rush defense two weekends ago.
2. Will Tyler Badie have a breakout running game against a Power Five team?
After senior running back Tyler Badie’s second 200-yard rushing performance of the season, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said that the Tigers’ lead back is “the least-talked about great player in the country.” And while he sits atop the national touchdowns from scrimmage leaderboard and is in the top five for yards from scrimmage, Badie has yet to put together an awe-inspiring performance against top competition.
Badie’s three best rushing performances of this season, and of his career, came in wins over non-Power Five schools. His numbers against Kentucky, Boston College and Tennessee all paled in comparison. In those three losses, Badie averaged 58 yards per game on 3.3 yards per carry, as opposed to 101.7 yards per game on almost six yards per carry in non-Power Five contests.
Granted, what makes Badie’s game so dangerous is his ability to catch passes out of the backfield, which led to 100 yards from scrimmage against Kentucky and Boston College. But putting the onus on redshirt sophomore quarterback Connor Bazelak to win this game through the air against this pass defense will be difficult. The Aggies secondary has allowed a completion rate of 60% just once.
Texas A&M’s run defense isn’t lights out and is ranked 63rd in the FBS for rushing yards allowed, so Badie surpassing 80 rushing yards against a Power Five team for the first time could be a realistic possibility if he receives adequate carries.
3. Did Texas A&M find a sustainable offensive line last weekend?
An issue Calzada has faced since replacing the injured freshman quarterback Haynes King in Week 2 is an inconsistent offensive line.
The Aggies have sent out at least a half-dozen offensive combinations to block for Calzada, which made his transition into the starting role that much more difficult. A&M allowed three sacks in each of the three games Calzada started prior to Alabama, and opponents roughed him up considerably with 14 quarterback hits across those contests, including a whopping nine against current No. 17 Arkansas on Sept. 25.
The group of five that Texas A&M offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey sent out last Saturday, October 9, played considerably better than they had in the prior three weeks.
Led by junior projected first-round draft pick Kenyon Green, the offensive line consisting of sophomore Blake Trainor, freshman Bryce Foster, sophomore Layden Robinson and freshman Reuben Fatheree II kept Calzada unscathed, allowing no sacks or quarterback hits.
A line featuring three top-200 prospects according to 247Sports is bound to yield good results, but with the overall youth in the group and Alabama’s difficulties getting to the quarterback, it could still be put to the test against the Tigers, who rank fifth in the conference with 17 sacks.
4. Was Missouri’s run defense against North Texas a fluke or a sign of things to come?
Missouri leaped over the low bar of allowing 308.2 rushing yards per game last Saturday against North Texas by only allowing 188 rushing yards to a ground game that ranks in the top 40 of the FBS.
After Drinkwitz fired defensive line coach Jethro Franklin, defensive analyst Al Davis stepped up and inspired a better defensive performance that featured 10 tackles for loss. The Tigers held the Mean Green to just 3.8 yards per carry in the afternoon, almost a full yard better than their best run defense performance against Central Michigan.
With last Saturday being Davis’ first game at the position, there isn’t a big enough sample size with this unit to say whether or not the success will continue into the final six games of the campaign. His resume includes jobs at Arkansas and Illinois, the latter of which he worked for last year as its defensive line coach.
Spiller and Achane have rushed for a combined 3,167 yards, and both running backs average at least 5.5 yards per carry on their careers, so the Tigers defensive front will face an experienced and talented group.
5. Does Missouri cover the spread for the first time this season?
Missouri is one of three Power Five programs that have yet to cover the point spread this season, alongside rival Kansas and usual contender Clemson.
The Aggies are favored by 8.5 points at Faurot Field on Saturday, but Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher is wary of taking his team’s foot off the gas pedal.
“This game is a trap game, just like we were to Alabama,” Fisher said during his weekly radio show on Wednesday evening. “Missouri is a very good football team …They play extremely well at home.”
Missouri hasn’t covered half of its games since 2018, and covering against a team that just defeated one of the top teams in the nation one week prior would be a step in the right direction for a program in jeopardy of falling short of .500 for the first time since 2016.
Edited by Kyle Pinnell | kpinnell@themaneater.com
