The Auburn Tigers come off a much needed bye sitting at 2-4 (0-3 in SEC play) and travel to face the 19th ranked Missouri Tigers who come into the matchup at 5-1 (1-1 in SEC Play).
Missouri, who is coached by Eli Drinkwitz, has a very good record to start the year but has looked shaky at times. This was especially the case when they played Boston College close at home to start the year and almost lost in double overtime to Vanderbilt at home and then a couple weeks ago got dominated at Texas A&M 41-10. Against the Aggies, Missouri was dominated on both sides of the ball from start to finish. They couldn’t stop the Texas A&M run game and couldn’t get anything going on offense especially with their star receivers.
Players to Watch:
Missouri:
Luther Burden III (WR)
Burden is one of the best receivers in the country and a potential first round pick in the NFL draft in April. He has 398 receiving yards on the year and four touchdowns and does his work all over the field. Expect QB Brady Cook to try and get Burden going early.
Theo Wease Jr (WR)
Wease is currently the leading receiver for the Tigers right now with 407 yards and a touchdown. He is also a potential draft pick in April. He is a bigger receiver and does mainly all of his work on the outside as the X receiver. Wease and Burden are arguably the best receiver duo in the country and Missouri will be feeding them the ball against the younger Auburn secondary.
Chris McClellan (DT)
McClellan leads the Tigers in sacks this year with 2.5 and is top three in tackles as well as having a forced fumble. McClellan is a transfer from Florida and has been huge for the Missouri front stuffing the run and getting to the quarterback. Expect him to have a big impact on both departments on Saturday.
Auburn:
Jarquez Hunter (RB)
Hunter, the leading ball carrier for Auburn has been dominant on the ground all year. He has 528 rushing yards on the season and three touchdowns. Averaging 6.8 yards per carry, Hunter has been elite on the ground. Texas A&M dominated Missouri on the ground rushing for 236 yards and 5 touchdowns against Mizzou. If Auburn wants to pull off the upset Jarquez Hunter will need to have a career game.
Keldric Faulk (DE)
Keldric Faulk has been Auburn’s guy this year on the edge getting to the QB. He has 5 sacks on the year and will need to have a big day for Auburn on Saturday. A&M totaled 6 sacks against Mizzou a couple of weeks ago so I expect Faulk to be in the backfield all day.
Kayin Lee (CB)
Lee has arguably been Auburn’s top outside cornerback this year, playing the most snaps of any cornerback at 276 snaps. He has allowed only 11 catches on the year with zero touchdowns given up. Assuming Lee will be matched up with either Wease Jr or Burden, expect Lee to have his hands full but will need to have a big day with these two receivers on the outside.
Keys to victory:
Missouri:
For Missouri, it needs to get both of their top receivers Theo Wease Jr and Luther Burden III going early and rely on them all game. They need to establish the run as well to help with their passing game which they were unable to do against Texas A&M. Nate Noel will need to have a solid game as their top running back alongside QB Brady Cook.
Defensively, stopping the run and forcing Auburn QB Payton Thorne into mistakes. Payton Thorne has been better in the last couple of games by not turning the ball over but still has made some mistakes that have been costly. Expect Missouri to run a lot of different defensive coverages to try and trick Thorne.
Auburn:
Offensively for Auburn, Jarquez Hunter needs to be leaned on all game long. Auburn cannot abandon the run and needs to get Jarquez involved as much as possible. Thorne also needs to find Keandre Lambert-Smith and Malcom Simmons on short crossing routes and curls because Missouri’s defense has tended to miss tackles when receivers have gotten into space.
The Tigers need to convert in the red zone and not turn the ball over which has been the theme all year. Auburn has been able to move the ball well against everyone but has not been able to come away with many points because of turnovers and missed opportunities. After the bye, I expect Auburn to be much better in both categories, which should help lead to a potential win.
Defensively Auburn needs to keep doing what its been doing all year. This week Missouri has a ton of playmakers so the secondary will be tested all day. If Auburn can stuff the run and make Missouri one dimensional it should be a good day.
The Missouri line has not held up well against good pass rushes which Auburn hasn’t been stellar but has produced enough pressure so far this year. If the Tigers can consistently get to Brady Cook and get off the field on third down who knows what can happen in this game.
It should be a tight matchup, but whichever team can find ways to score in the red zone and make the other one dimensional on offense will win this game.
Kickoff is set for 11:00 a.m. CST on Saturday, Oct. 19 and will be televised on ESPN.
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Jack is a sophomore majoring in sports production. He started with The Plainsman in the fall 2024.
