Missouri’s matchup against the No. 24 Boston College Eagles is the only Saturday game  between ranked teams of the third week. 

Missouri moved into the No. 6 spot in the AP Poll after a 38-0 victory against Buffalo, leapfrogging Notre Dame, Penn State and Oregon. Missouri’s new ranking is their highest since 2013, and Boston College is ranked for the first time since 2018. 

The Eagles earned their spot with a 56-0 demolition of Duquesne and a 28-13 upset victory over Florida State in Tallahassee, Florida. They are one of four ACC teams ranked in the top 25 and are on track to be one of the most threatening teams from the conference. New head coach Bill O’Brien formerly served as head coach for the Houston Texans, leading the NFL team to five winning seasons.

“Coach O’Brien has done a tremendous job,” Missouri Head Coach Eli Drinkwitz said in a press conference. “You can tell in…offense, defense and special teams, they’re aligned in how they play the game. You can definitely see the imprint of Coach O’Brien on the offensive side of the ball.”

The primary facet of the Eagles’ offensive threat is quarterback Thomas Castellanos. The junior has thrown six touchdowns throughout two games and has yet to turn the ball over. He also possesses a potent rushing ability, rushing for 81 yards and a touchdown thus far. The Tigers have experience with mobile quarterbacks, holding Buffalo’s C.J. Ogbonna to only 19 yards on eight rushing attempts.

“You have to have multiple options and see which one plays,” Drinkwitz said. “Coach [Corey] Batoon has done an excellent job figuring out what our defensive players can do. We’ve got waves of players…there’s not very much fall off.”

The Eagles defense has only allowed one touchdown all season and held Duquesne to 135 total yards of offense. The defensive line is anchored by players like edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku, who has racked up two sacks the team’s first two games.

“They’re big, they’re physical,” offensive lineman Cayden Green said in a press conference. “Watching that Florida State game, they really out-physicaled them.”

Although Boston College is a threatening team, Missouri is still favored to win. Most expectations for Missouri’s offense labeled them as a team that would be very reliant on explosive plays from players like Luther Burden III. In reality, they have taken a very methodical offensive approach, marching the ball downfield with simple plays and using the run game to establish their identity.

The Tigers have scored 89 points in two games, but it is evident that their ceiling is much higher. Quarterback Brady Cook missing a couple deep throw opportunities and 18 offensive penalties have held the offense back. Solving the penalty problems will be key for Missouri to continue winning as the season goes on.

“The alignment penalties are just embarrassing, and as the head football coach that’s on me,” Drinkwitz said. “The holding penalties, we got to learn to let go when the ball is out-leveraged. We cannot continue to engage with the jersey of the defender.”

There will be plenty of national coverage for Saturday’s game, which is airing on the SEC Network nationwide. Missouri hopes to win a ranked matchup as a top 10 team at home for the first time since 2013. The game will kick off at 11:45 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14.

Edited by Dylan Heinrich | dheinrich@themaneater.com

Copyedited by Hannah Taylor | htaylor@themaneater.com

Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | agoodykoontz@themaneater.com