Second Quarter: Missouri Football spring predictions
The Missouri Tigers were 2-1 by this point of the 2016 season. How will the Tigers fare at this point during the 2017 season?
In 2016, the second quarter was not kind to Mizzou, which went into the halfway point of its schedule, 0-3. Thanks to a 79-0 whooping that the Tigers put on Delaware State, Mizzou was averaging about 42.3 points per game at the start of the second quarter.
The next three games brought the toughest SEC defenses that the Tigers would face for the season: LSU and Florida.
Missouri Tigers Football
against LSU, Missouri curled up and died, 42-7. The fact that Mizzou was able to get seven points up on LSU was probably more of a mercy offering from LSU, than Missouri’s skill.
When the Tigers played Florida, the result was almost the same, except Missouri did put 14 points on the board.
I predict that the 2017 season will fare better for Mizzou. While they won’t go undefeated in the second quarter, they also won’t go winless.
Missouri will face two division opponents, and an SEC West opponent in the second quarter, making at least two of these games extremely important to win.
The SEC is already the toughest conference in college football, and there will be no time for the Tigers to rest in this stretch of “murderer’s row.”
Auburn Tigers
This will be the last game that Missouri hosts for the next two weeks. For Mizzou, home field advantage will be key in this matchup.
Since Missouri didn’t face Auburn in 2016, neither team will have a great advantage over the other, and there may not be as much of a revenge factor as there may be if Missouri had lost to Auburn, in Auburn.
There should still be a bad taste in the Tigers’ mouth from their loss to Auburn in the 2013 SEC title game, which would provide some extra motivation for a team that is more of an unknown entering the 2017 season.
Auburn finished the 2016 with an 8-5 record, and runner-up in the SEC West. This will be a tough battle for Mizzou, but I will take our Tigers in a close, down-to-the-wire matchup in Columbia. Missouri 21, Auburn 20.
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Kentucky Wildcats
Last year, the Wildcats stayed ahead of Missouri, winning 35-21. But this is a slightly different Missouri team this year, which will bring another year of experienced players, with the addition of new recruits.
While head coach Barry Odom will be in his second year as head coach, the Wildcats’ Mark Stoops will enter his fourth year for Kentucky.
The Wildcats will continue to rely on running back Benny Snell, Jr., and the possible return of quarterback Drew Barker, who was injured at one point in the 2016 season.
For both coaches, this season is something of a prove-it or lose-it season. Barring an absolute meltdown on the season as whole though, it is likely that Odom will return in 2018.
Missouri will take a closer loss in this game than it did in 2016. Kentucky 33, Missouri 30.
Georgia Bulldogs
I don’t like Georgia. I never have–maybe it’s the oppressive humidity.
The Bulldogs have cemented themselves as “Running back U,” an area where the Tigers have struggled and been overpowered at times.
Georgia finished the 2016 with an overall 8-5 record, and broke even in conference play (4-4). The game against the Bulldogs in 201, was very close, with Georgia winning by one point, 28-27.
This year, the Tigers will look to fire back at the Bulldogs and get a little revenge from that unfortunate loss. The Tigers’ improved defensive techniques and a healthier case of offensive playmakers will change the storyline in favor of Mizzou. Tigers 27, Bulldogs 21.
The great news for Missouri, is they will start conference play with a respectable 1-1 record, finish the second quarter with a 2-1 record, and an overall 4-2 record to start the season.