The defenses tell a story too. Missouri took Jadan Baugh, a Heisman candidate with 11 rushing touchdowns through 4 games, and held him to 13 yards on 12 carries. Against an A&M offense that wants to run first, that's the matchup to watch. The Aggies' defense bent without breaking against Arkansas and shut the Razorbacks out over the final 3 quarters, but their own beat writers are still worried about the pass rush, and Simmons is coming off a 340-yard day.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff54-14The form card shows A&M's season split in 2. It opened with 50-0 and 48-20 home wins, then lost 31-21 at home to Kentucky and 35-6 at LSU. The LSU game is the only time the Aggies have left Kyle Field this year, and they managed 6 points. Columbia is their second road game. Missouri's only loss is 31-24 at Mississippi State, which makes these 2 SEC defeats hard to compare.
The open question on the Missouri side is the defensive front. DL L. Kitchen and D. Smith were both listed out before the Florida game, and Missouri still stuffed Baugh without them. Nobody has said whether either one is back for A&M. If they return, Missouri's run defense gets 2 bodies deeper against an offense that has to run to function.
The forecast reads about 80 degrees, cloudy, 10 mph wind and almost no rain, so weather shouldn't decide it. What should is A&M's ground game against a Missouri front that just shut down one of the best backs in the country, and whether Reed can make the Tigers pay if they crowd the line. If he can't, the Aggies are relying on Missouri's offense to have an off day at home after its best game of the year.