The Tigers are all set for kickoff Thursday evening, in what head Coach Eliah Drinkwitz expects to be a historic season. It's truly been a revival of the program since he came around, with a pair of extremely competitive seasons each of the past two years.
That takes the next step up when you realize the squad has a chance to accomplish something never done in program history: a third straight campaign of double-digit victories. It would also more than likely send them to the now-expanded NCAAF playoffs, or at the very least, another big-name bowl game, similar to the ones that they've competed in the last two postseasons.
The one thing Mizzou cannot afford to do is to look too far ahead, however. They have several opponents between now and then, all starting Thursday with a far-inferior Central Arkansas team.
That being said, they cannot overlook any team they face, especially when it's just week one, and it's versus a Bears program that they haven't matched up agaisnt in team history.
Central Arkansas plays in the Football Championship Subdivison (FCS), which features 24 smaller schools, most noteably programs like South and North Dakota State, teams that made headlines with late season runs a few years back. The Tigers have taken care of business within the FCS in recent years, winning every contest versus FCS opponents, dating all the way back to 2006.
Well it would be nice to see a relaxing, blowout matchup with the backups playing the majority of the second half, the starters need to take care of Central Arkansas first. There are some things that need to be figured out by Drinkwitz and co. before the team is ready to run away with this one.
The unranked Tigers will start the season on a good note with Vegas, as they come in favored -36.5 points, making the Bears a significant underdog in this duel. With that said, it is important to note that Mizzou hasn't covered the spread in three of its' last four August games versus non-ranked AP opponents, showing they do struggle to start, versus anyone.
Central Arkansas is coming off a decent 2024-25 campaign, where they went 6-6, winning 3 games within the United Athletic Football Conference, and losing another 5. Slightly worse than their 7-4 season the year before, and still not enough to crack a playoff bid, unlike the four teams in the conference ahead of them.
Their biggest name to watch is wide receiver Malachi Henry, who went for nearly 700 yards on over 40 receptions as a true freshman last season. After recently being named to the preseason All-UAC team, he'll have a chip on his shoulder as he tries to make some noise in a game with NFL scouts watching.
This Bears team also featured a pretty lethal runningback duo last season. They lost their true starter ShunDerrick Powell who, after rushing for 1300 yards and 14 touchdowns last season, earned himself a spot on the Super Bowl Champion Eagles as a UDFA.
Even with the loss of Powell, they have junior Darius Hale, who was named ASUN Freshman of the Year, and ran for almost 800 yards and a whopping 12 scores last year, proving his efficency and talent all over the field, but especially at the goaline.
Central Arkansas's defense also has a major spot to fill, with defensive lineman David Walker, who won UAC Defensive Player of the Year, and the Buck Buchanan Award (given to the top defensive player in the entire FCS), being drafted to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last April, though he won't play this season with a torn ACL he suffered last month.
Last year Walker recorded 68 tackles, to go along with a league-high 23 TFLs, and 10 sacks, not to mention four forced fumbles.
That void will likely be filled by Dillon Williams, who will return this season after leading the Bears with 80 tackles last year.
Former Central Arkansas quaterback and pitcher Nathan Brown has coached this team since 2009, shortly after being cut from the NFL for the final time. He was quickly promoted throughout the team, and took over as head coach in 2018.
Since then, the three-time All-American award winner has led his alma mater to a 31-24 record across six seasons, leading the conference in wins once, and being ranked as high as No. 9 in the Coaches' Poll.
There's no other way around this for Drinkwitz and the Tigers: it's a trap game, and could easily shift the momentum for this season in the wrong direction.
All this Mizzou team needs to do is not get ahead of themselves. There's gonna be some sloppy play throughout the first couple drives on both sides of the ball, that's more than expected. As long as they can learn from it, and take control of this one early, it's not one they should lose.
Fans are looking forward to seeing their Tigers open this season up, with a packed Faurot Field on a cloudy, 75 degree day on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. waiting for them.