2015 Football Previews – (SEC) – Tigers
Missouri has quietly won the SEC East in back-to-back seasons, though the program continues to be an afterthought in the division. The team has handled the move from the Big 12 to the SEC very well, but until they can break through and win something of significance, they’ll continue to be overlooked.
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Southeastern Conference 2015 College Football Preview – Missouri
Head Coach: Gary Pinkel
2014 Record: 11-3
Missouri Odds to win the SEC: 18-1
It’s an old song for Missouri, which made it to No. 1 in the nation in 2007, but failed to win the Big 12 title, losing to Oklahoma. The same thing happened in 2008, minus the No. 1 ranking.
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Had Missouri bested Alabama in the SEC title game a year ago – rather than getting beaten up to the tune of 42-13 – it would have been possible to make a case the Tigers belonged in the inaugural College Football Playoff. Had that happened, the team’s expectations would be vastly different this season.
Team Strengths
The program has come to be known as a pass rusher factory. The Tigers have produced such talents as Aldon Smith, Michael Sam, Shane Ray, and Markus Golden in recent years. But with Ray and Golden leaving for the NFL this offseason, it’ll be on Gary Pinkel and his staff to find replacements.
The Tigers often don’t bring in elite recruiting classes, but they also find ways to get the most out of the players they do bring in. Now it will be on Charles Harris and Ricky Hatley to continue the tradition set by their predecessors and get to the quarterback.
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On offense, senior running back Russell Hansbrough is back after rushing for 1,084 yards and 10 touchdowns. He’ll be the centerpiece of the team’s offense.
Team Weaknesses
Missouri has let some elite receiver talent leave town in recent years – Jeremy Maclin, Danario Alexander, Dorial Green-Beckham – but this year they could be in some real trouble. The team’s top four pass catchers from a year ago are gone, as are 24 of the team’s 25 touchdown receptions.
The leading returning wide receiver had five receptions last year. There are some good athletes in the group, but boy are they short on experience. That could mean some issues for quarterback Maty Mauk.
Mauk may be 14-4 as a starter, but he needs to find a way to be more consistent if the team is going to replicate its success from a year ago. The team is saying all the right things about his work in the offseason, but until he gets on the field and starts completing his passes at a more efficient rate, it’s hard to believe we can reach a point where we’ll forget about his 6-of-18 day against Florida.
2015 Missouri Tigers Prediction: 9-3
Missouri has been easy to look past in the SEC East, and while the team’s recent success is undeniable, there’s a lot the Tigers will have to overcome with regards to roster turnover. Games against Mississippi State and at Arkansas aren’t ideal crossovers, and a neutral site game against BYU won’t be easy.
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Getting Arkansas State early in the season probably looks tougher than it actually is. There’s also a pair of cupcake matchups with SE Missouri State and UConn due up early. Follow that up with a road date at Kentucky, then back-to-back home dates and the schedule sets up nicely for a hot start to the year.
Missouri Tigers 2-15 Football Schedule
9/5 SE Missouri State
9/12 at Arkansas State
9/19 UConn
9/26 at Kentucky
10/3 South Carolina
10/10 Florida
10/17 at Georgia
10/24 at Vanderbilt
11/7 Mississippi State
11/14 BYU*
11/21 Tennessee
11/28 at Arkansas
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