No. 9 Missouri football will travel to play No. 25 Texas A&M in the Tigers’ first road game of the season. The Aggies will enter the game with a 4-1 record, while Missouri will look to maintain their undefeated season after a 30-27 victory over Vanderbilt. Playing at Texas A&M is a challenge, as Kyle Field is traditionally one of the most raucous stadiums in the county, so Missouri has prepared for the environment.

“We’ve been doing stuff since day one of fall camp to work on noise, so [I’m] not concerned about that,” head coach Eli Drinkwitz said in a press conference.

The Tigers had the good fortune of being on a bye week ahead of the game, giving them extra time to prepare. The Vanderbilt game posed many questions about the Tigers, and the extra practice and recovery time is crucial for preparation. 

“We got to figure out why we’re not executing on the third downs in the red area,” Drinkwitz said. “Why we’re missing tackles and why we’re busting assignments.”

The Aggies are led by head coach Mike Elko, who is in his first season after overseeing a remarkable turnaround for the Duke Blue Devils. Elko, who was Texas A&M’s defensive coordinator for four seasons before taking the position at Duke, preaches strong defense as the hallmark of his teams. 

With the Aggies in 2021, Elko’s unit ranked third in the country for points allowed. Texas A&M’s current defense is reflecting that standard, as they’ve yet to allow more than 23 points in a game. 

Texas A&M’s offense has shown some weaknesses early in the season. They have yet to throw for more than 200 yards in a game and have had to deal with a shoulder injury to starting quarterback Connor Weigman that has forced them to start redshirt freshman Marcel Reed. 

Their greatest strength is their rushing attack. Three Aggies have over 195 rushing yards on the season and their lead back Le’Veon Moss is averaging 6 yards per carry on 76 rushes. While their rushing game is strong, their passing struggles have made them one-dimensional offensively. 

The way for Missouri to beat the Aggies starts with shutting down their run game. The Tigers have been effective in that department, allowing 91.8 rushing yards per game, which puts them among the top 20 in the country. 

If Reed does end up starting over Weigman, the Tigers will have to pay extra attention to his scrambling ability. Missouri defensive coordinator Corey Batoon has done well to adjust to his opponents throughout the year, and he will need to fully prepare his unit for the game.

Kickoff is slated for Saturday, Oct. 5 at 11 a.m. on ABC, gluing plenty of eyeballs on the contest. Defeating the Aggies at their home stadium could serve as a statement of Missouri’s place among the top contenders. 

Edited by Michael Stamps | mstamps@themaneater.com

Copyedited by Jayden Bates-Bland and Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com 

Edited by Emily Skidmore | eskidmore@themaneater.com