Know Your Enemy: Missouri Tigers

Nov 15, 2014; College Station, TX, USA; Missouri Tigers wide receiver Jimmie Hunt (88) runs with the ball during the second quarter against the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Who: Missouri Tigers — Columbia, MO

Distance From Knoxville: 612 miles

Head coach: Gary Pinkel (14th season with Missouri, 110-65, 14-8 SEC, 47-42 Big 12)

Conference: SEC

2014 Record: 8-2 (5-1)

Ranking: CFP No. 20/AP No. 19

All time series: Missouri leads 2-0

Last meeting: Missouri won in Columbia, 31-3

Leading Passer: Maty Mauk — 1,784 yards, 19 TDs, 10 INTs

Leading Rusher: Russell Hansbrough — 142 carries, 790 yards, 9 TDs

Leading Receiver: Bud Sasser — 52 catches, 701 yards, 8 TDs

Since the Missouri Tigers joined the SEC in 2012, the Vols have laid down the welcome mat for them. Before the Tigers joined, the two teams had never played each other. But in the two meetings since, Missouri has won both match-ups, one in four overtimes in Knoxville and one in dominating fashion in Columbia.

Now the budding rivalry comes back to Knoxville, and this one should be just as evenly matched as the first contest in 2012. The two teams, despite the disparity in records, have about the same amount of strengths and weaknesses as one another.

The strength of the Tigers is definitely their defense. While Missouri’s defense is an average to above-average SEC defense, they’re disruptive and are holding opponents to only 20.1 points per game, good for 4th in the SEC.

Missouri has one of the best defensive lines in the SEC, and they have amassed the second-most sacks in the SEC with 32 on the year. Defensive end Shane Ray leads the team and conference with 11.5 sacks on the season, and fellow defensive lineman Markus Golden has 6.5 sacks. The Tigers are also second in the SEC with 73 tackles for loss in 2014, trailing only Tennessee’s 78 tackles for loss.

While Missouri may force pressure on the teams they play, they’re largely average in every other defensive category. They are 3rd in the SEC in average yards per play given up (4.62), but rank 5th in opponent third down conversion rate (34.8%), 6th in rushing defense (130.9 YPG) and total defense (339.9 YPG), and 7th in passing defense (209 YPG).

But the Tigers notoriously gave up 493 total yards of offense in an inexcusable 31-27 loss to Indiana earlier in the year, and they were gashed on the ground by Georgia in a 34-0 beat-down. So the defense has its holes.

The Tigers’ offense is a completely different story, however. Sophomore quarterback Maty Mauk was prematurely billed by some as a star on the rise in the SEC and a potential dark horse Heisman candidate for the next two seasons, but he has looked erratic throughout the season. Mauk has only completed 53.1% of his passes on the year, and in the team’s two losses he has completed 55.1% of his passes for 2 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.

One of the most memorable performances by Missouri’s offense came in their 42-13 victory over the Florida Gators. Surely if a team puts up 42 points that means the offense was clicking, right?

To quote one Lee Corso: “Not so fast!”

The Tigers used a punt, kick, interception, and fumble return for touchdowns to pile up their points, and their offense only totaled 119 yards, including 20 passing yards from Mauk.

Aside from having the 6th best third down conversion rate in the SEC at 43.4%, they rank in the bottom half of every other major offensive category in the conference.

Missouri is 8th in the SEC in rushing offense (177.4 YPG), 9th in scoring offense (29.3 PPG), 12th in passing offense (178.4 YPG), and second-to-last in total offense (355.8 YPG). Only Vanderbilt has gained fewer yards per game than the Missouri Tigers this season.

While it may look as though Missouri’s offense is trending up after putting up 587 yards of offense on Texas A&M last weekend, those numbers are skewed by the fact that the Tigers played one of the worst overall defenses in the SEC.

Despite some of their deficiencies, the Tigers have a rather balanced offensive attack when they are clicking. Running back Russell Hansbrough leads the team with 790 rushing yards and 9 scores, and Marcus Murphy is an effective complementary back with 607 yards. Maty Mauk can also run the ball, as he has totaled 299 yards on 80 carries this season.

Wide receiver Bud Sasser is clearly the No. 1 option for Mauk in the passing game, as the second-most productive receiver on the team, Jimmie Hunt, has only half as many receptions (26) and barely over half as many yards (362) as Sasser’s 52 catches for 701 yards and 8 score. A knee injury had limited Hunt for weeks prior to the Texas A&M game, but he finally regained some momentum and caught 5 passes for 85 yards against the Aggies.

The Vols started out as early favorites and were expected to be able to limit the Tigers with a solid, young defense. But that defense took some major hits this weekend and earlier this week.

Redshirt junior safety Brian Randolph will have to sit out the 1st half of this weekend’s game after being tossed in the 3rd quarter of last weekend’s Kentucky game for targeting Wildcats’ QB Patrick Towles. But the bigger story will be the likely absence of senior linebacker A.J. Johnson.

Johnson and cornerback Michael Williams are both currently suspended indefinitely during an ongoing investigation into an alleged rape over the weekend. Tennessee head coach Butch Jones has not commented much on the situation, but he indefinitely suspended the players Monday afternoon.

Needless to say, this very serious situation will affect the team not only in terms of depth, but also mentally.

But to somehow transition back to the game: While the Tigers have looked inept offensively at times this season, they’ve inexplicably found ways to win and are currently in first place in the SEC East. Some Vol fans may be extremely confident in Tennessee’s ability to win this game, but it should be closer than they’re thinking.

The Missouri Tigers have won 7 straight SEC road games and 8 out of their last 9. Somehow, the Tigers are able to pull out victories away from home, and they certainly have a good chance to do so this upcoming Saturday.

All stats are from cfbstats.com unless noted otherwise