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SEC football has been playing a bit of musical chairs in the national rankings as of late. Certain teams who have historically struggled to compete in the best conference in college football have been doing very well up to this point in the season. Currently, the 4-0 Missouri Tigers are a great example of a team that have done better than expected this season.
This weekend, SEC play will begin for the Tigers. Missouri faces a 2-3 Vanderbilt team who have faced a higher strength of schedule than their opponent thus far in the season. Missouri Head Coach Eliah Drinkwitz was interviewed on his thoughts on the matchup.
Keys to Watch
The Tigers have high hopes this season. Coach Drinkwitz has been on interview after interview this season talking about how he wants to see this winning trend continue for the entire season. Meanwhile, this theory will be tested on the road against a game Commodores team with nothing to lose.
Coach Drinkwitz talked about his team’s strengths and weaknesses coming into this SEC football matchup.
Missouri Metamorphosis
Missouri is going through a little bit of a transformation when it comes to the structure of their offense over the past couple of seasons. Fans seem to be keen on their air attack. Passing has improved significantly with a healthy quarterback and receiver Luther Burden, who scored two touchdowns against then-No. 15 Kansas State. This is in stark contrast to their run-heavy offense that has been minimally productive over the past three seasons.
“Luther Burden is getting looks as, potentially, the nation’s best wide receiver and he needs to continue that type of performance here.” – Nate Edwards, SB Nation Missouri
Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea had much to say about Missouri as well when asked recently about the upcoming matchup. The first thing on Lea’s mind was the defensive line of Missouri, who helped to hold Vandy to two touchdowns in their 2022 matchup.
Additionally, the success and failure of this Missouri team will be dependent on their ability to mix up their offense and hold Vanderbilt behind the first down marker. Judging by each coach’s interviews and body language alone, it seems as if Clark Lea is simply trying to get through four quarters. Also, Missouri seems like they are genuinely trying to do something special with their team this year. With the talent the Tigers possess this season, they should get somewhere close.
