By Joe Cody
The 2018 college football season is officially underway and while some things change, some stay the same. Mizzou came out firing on (mostly) all cylinders against an overmatched FCS opponent and did what they had to, unlike last season. While Mizzou came out and did what they needed to, Kansas and Tennessee went out and did what they were meant to do, crap the bed and lose games is different but equally spectacular fashions.
However, since Bill Self is a gutless coward who needs to spend more time understanding attorney-client privilege than wrapping his head around playing Mizzou, and the Tigers are not lucky enough to play the Volunteers every week, we focus on this week’s opponent, the Wyoming Cowboys.
The Wyoming Cowboys are most recently known for producing future NFL 1st round draft bust Josh Allen, a QB with a monster arm and amazingly mediocre 15-9 record against FBS schools. Now that he is gone, what can we expect against a Mizzou football team that looks to continue to build momentum as it heads into the more difficult part of its schedule? Well, Wyoming has played two games already, a 29-7 win against New Mexico State and a 41-19 loss to Washington State. Looking at the box scores (because I am not going to watch two Wyoming football games), it appears they have not replaced Josh Allen and their offense is built around the rush. They have averaged 225 yards rushing in their first two games compared to a measly 102 yards passing.
Defensively, we should not take much out of the NMSU game so let’s focus on Washington State. The Cougars air raid offense put up 394 yards total offense with 319 of those coming through the air. The Cougars QB, who transferred from a school with the Pirates as a mascot which is why coach Mike Leach wanted him, threw for three touchdowns and appears to have torched the Cowboy defense. Wyoming did lead this game 16-13 at halftime, but Washington State put up 21 in the 4th to pull away with the comfortable win.
So, now we wonder, can Mizzou win against Wyoming?
Much like the UT-Martin game, they better damn well win. The Tigers appear to have the advantage at almost every position and should match up well against the strengths of the Cowboys. The Cowboys appear to be weak on passing defense so you would expect the talented Drew Lock to shred Wyoming and put up big numbers with what could be a deep WR pool for the Tigers. It will be up to the Mizzou front seven to stop the Cowboy rushing attack and force them to pass. Additionally, leading Cowboy rusher Nico Evans appears to have suffered a rib injury and is listed as questionable this week. Even if he does play, he may not be 100 percent, putting more pressure on the Cowboys to sustain any offensive presence.
We would like to see Mizzou use this opportunity to develop some sort of consistent pass rush after only recording two sacks against an overwhelmed UT-Martin offensive line. We also would like to see Mizzou’s running game establish themselves as dominant, big play threats. Mizzou should head into Purdue a comfortable 2-0 and look to avenge last year’s embarrassing loss to the Boilermakers.
However, since Bill Self is a gutless coward who needs to spend more time understanding attorney-client privilege than wrapping his head around playing Mizzou, and the Tigers are not lucky enough to play the Volunteers every week, we focus on this week’s opponent, the Wyoming Cowboys.
The Wyoming Cowboys are most recently known for producing future NFL 1st round draft bust Josh Allen, a QB with a monster arm and amazingly mediocre 15-9 record against FBS schools. Now that he is gone, what can we expect against a Mizzou football team that looks to continue to build momentum as it heads into the more difficult part of its schedule? Well, Wyoming has played two games already, a 29-7 win against New Mexico State and a 41-19 loss to Washington State. Looking at the box scores (because I am not going to watch two Wyoming football games), it appears they have not replaced Josh Allen and their offense is built around the rush. They have averaged 225 yards rushing in their first two games compared to a measly 102 yards passing.
Defensively, we should not take much out of the NMSU game so let’s focus on Washington State. The Cougars air raid offense put up 394 yards total offense with 319 of those coming through the air. The Cougars QB, who transferred from a school with the Pirates as a mascot which is why coach Mike Leach wanted him, threw for three touchdowns and appears to have torched the Cowboy defense. Wyoming did lead this game 16-13 at halftime, but Washington State put up 21 in the 4th to pull away with the comfortable win.
So, now we wonder, can Mizzou win against Wyoming?
Much like the UT-Martin game, they better damn well win. The Tigers appear to have the advantage at almost every position and should match up well against the strengths of the Cowboys. The Cowboys appear to be weak on passing defense so you would expect the talented Drew Lock to shred Wyoming and put up big numbers with what could be a deep WR pool for the Tigers. It will be up to the Mizzou front seven to stop the Cowboy rushing attack and force them to pass. Additionally, leading Cowboy rusher Nico Evans appears to have suffered a rib injury and is listed as questionable this week. Even if he does play, he may not be 100 percent, putting more pressure on the Cowboys to sustain any offensive presence.
We would like to see Mizzou use this opportunity to develop some sort of consistent pass rush after only recording two sacks against an overwhelmed UT-Martin offensive line. We also would like to see Mizzou’s running game establish themselves as dominant, big play threats. Mizzou should head into Purdue a comfortable 2-0 and look to avenge last year’s embarrassing loss to the Boilermakers.
