With all of the talk of a big win this weekend I'm afraid this is not a good match up for us.
Missouri is an uptempo team. Runs a lot of plays and uk has had a ton of trouble with these "nascar" type offenses. Look at Southern Miss and New Mexico State for example, there is more than just a couple of reasons we have trouble, but lack of depth in the front 7 and disorganization on the field and on the sideline during these fast to snap teams.
We are much better suited with teams who like to grind it out, but with Missouri I do not think we have the offensive fire power to consistently keep up if our d gets tired and it becomes a track meet like their game with mtsu.
Just a bad match up.
Dave
Mizzou could much more likely be a worse match-up for themselves in this game. Such a massive lack of defensive depth on that side of the ball for them, far worse than we've been this season, and do consider the fact that:
1. The team has been much, much better since Southern Miss and New Mexico State
2. Southern Miss's QB is 5x the QB that Drew Lock is. Overall, Southern Miss is a better, more talented offensive football team than Mizzou.
If Drew Lock was a big threat with his legs, I'd be more concerned with their offense, but fact of the matter is that I fully believe that our DB's can lock down their wide outs, and I think our front 7 on both side of the ball can handle Mizzou, especially offensively.
Also, I disagree with the whole notion that we match up better with a team similar to our grind-it out style. Ball control kills our defense, and Mizzou doesn't have a great ball control offense. They run a lot of plays as a product of calling plays early in the clock/having a defense that surrenders a lot of points somewhat quickly. not because they can dominate the LOS. Mizzou will put their depleted/already weak defense on the field that much more quickly with their offensive style, where Kentucky will inevitably control the football and the line of scrimmage consistently, giving our defense that much more rest, and tiring out Mizzou relatively quickly. We absolutely have the offensive firepower, and I think we're finding our offensive identity to a bigger degree than we previously did.
At first, we were strictly a ball control, smashmouth football team. Now, it seems like we're learning how to be more explosive on offense, while still maintaining the strength of our team (smashmouth football). That's a recipe for an elite offense. Occasionally bust a big one open while being able to control the LOS and wear down defense, dictate pace, lower scores, and get a better chance to get the possession that counts at the end during close games.
Mizzou has a proven weakness against good running teams. We have, arguably an elite running team/ball control offense. That matters a lot, especially considering they lost 2 of their 3 best defensive players this past week.
