COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥 Now comes the harder part for Missouri.
The No. 9 Tigers are 4-0 and well-rested coming off an early-season bye week, just in time for the biggest game of their season so far: a road showdown with No. 25 Texas A&M.
It鈥檒l be the first time in 2024 that Mizzou plays away from home, and a national TV designation means there will be more eyes on the game, too.
MU should have nearly its entire roster available, outside of wide receiver Marquis Johnson. The speedster suffered an ankle injury in Missouri鈥檚 Sept. 21 game against Vanderbilt, did not practice Tuesday and was listed as questionable on the first injury report of the week.
鈥淥ther than Marquis, everybody else is going to be ready to roll,鈥 Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz said.
For Texas A&M, quarterback Conner Weigman is listed as questionable with a shoulder injury that Aggies coach Mike Elko has said will make him a game-time decision. Calling that 鈥渟emantics,鈥 Drinkwitz has prepped the Tigers for Marcel Reed to be A&M鈥檚 QB on Saturday.
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Here are three storylines to follow heading into the game:
Nation's only game between ranked opponents
There鈥檚 only one game that pits two teams in the AP's Top 25 poll against each other, and it鈥檚 Mizzou-Texas A&M. The game will be an 11 a.m. kickoff at the Aggies鈥 Kyle Field, and it will air on ABC (KDNL, Channel 30, locally) as one of the network鈥檚 spotlighted Southeastern Conference games.
It鈥檚 a bigger stage for the Tigers than they鈥檝e had for their first four games of the season, despite being ranked inside or close to the top 10 for most of that stretch.
And with Kyle Field able to hold more than 100,000 fans, an unfriendly crowd will be a stark difference from Mizzou鈥檚 home sellouts.
Interestingly, it鈥檚 the second time this year that MU has been in a given Saturday鈥檚 only ranked-versus-ranked matchup: The Tigers鈥 Sept. 14 game against then-No. 24 Boston College was the only such clash that day.
Another mobile QB
If there鈥檚 anything that feels repetitive from a storyline standpoint, it鈥檚 that Mizzou is 鈥 yet again 鈥 expected to face a run-happy quarterback in Texas A&M鈥檚 Reed.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a common theme right now for the opponents that we play,鈥 Drinkwitz said.
The run of runners started with Buffalo鈥檚 CJ Ogbonna, then ramped up with BC鈥檚 Thomas Castellanos and Vanderbilt鈥檚 Diego Pavia. How the Tigers wind up attacking Reed could be a blend of the game plans against the prior three quarterbacks.
鈥淚 think he鈥檚 a really good thrower,鈥 Drinkwitz said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like he can sit there and (we) try to do the same rushing attack that we had against Boston College to keep him in the pocket because he鈥檒l pick you apart. But I don鈥檛 know that we can afford to let him out of the pocket the way we ended up letting Diego a couple times.鈥
And for its part, Missouri鈥檚 defense is getting used to dealing with this kind of threat.
鈥淲e face a lot of them this year,鈥 defensive end Johnny Walker Jr. said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a very agile runner. Watched tape on him a lot. He doesn鈥檛 run as often as the last guys did, but we鈥檙e wanting to limit him running.鈥
Establishing the run
Speaking of running, MU鈥檚 own rushing attack could be a key factor against the Aggies.
Running back Nate Noel鈥檚 usage has steadily increased through the first four games of the season, going from 11 rushing attempts in the opener against Murray State to 12 against Buffalo, 22 against Boston College and 24 against Vanderbilt.
Feasting on the Tigers鈥 preferred outside zone scheme, Noel has gone over the 100-yard mark in those past two games, including a career high 199 yards against the Commodores.
Through his collegiate career at both Mizzou and Appalachian State, Noel has received 20 or more carries eight times 鈥 and gone for more than 100 yards in all of those games. Feeding him could be a key part of the Tigers鈥 game plan.
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