By Brant Daughtry

Twin Tigers

The Tigers of Missouri are coached by Eli Drinkwitz, a name that Auburn fans should be familiar with. After graduating from Arkansas Tech, he spent a few seasons coaching high school football before joining Auburn’s staff as an assistant in 2010. He got his first head coaching job in 2019 at Appalachian State, and was hired at Mizzou a year later. He’s in his third season now, and hasn’t posted a winning record in his first two.

Last year was a below-average season for Missouri, going 6-7, and 3-5 in conference play.

This season, Missouri is 2-1, and have yet to play a close game. They’ve won two paycheck games against Louisiana Tech and Abilene Christian, and lost 40-12 when visiting Kansas State. Quarterback Brady Cook is in his first year as a starter after backing up Connor Bazelak last season. He has looked decent in the paycheck games, but struggled in their lone game against quality competition. In that Kansas State game, he completed just over 50% of his passes for under 130 yards and two interceptions. It should be noted that he also leads Missouri in rush yards with 159.

Players to Watch For: 

Wide Receiver Dominic Lovett, #7- Lovett came on as a freshman last season, and has turned into the Tigers’ number 1 option in his sophomore campaign. He leads Mizzou with 16 catches for 274 yards and two touchdowns. His yardage is more than double the next leading receiver.

Linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper, #8- Hopper spent three seasons at Florida, and transferred to Missouri after not seeing much of the field. Last year at Missouri, he played more, but only made four starts. This season, he seems to have come into his own. Through three games, he leads the Tigers in tackles with 15, TFL’s with 4, has a sack on the season, and an interception.

Auburn and Missouri are in very similar spots. Their coaches are struggling, and the fan bases of both schools seem largely unhappy. If either of these coaches want to save their jobs, it will take a miracle. Luckily for Auburn, the first step of this miracle will be the easiest. Auburn has a significantly better roster than Missouri, even with the struggles that Auburn has had.

I myself do not gamble, but I like to pay attention to betting lines as an indicator of public perception. This game opened with Auburn as an 11-point favorite. Oddly enough, the line has moved to Auburn being a 7-point favorite, which means the “smart money,” the money bet by those who do this for a living, is overwhelmingly going to Missouri. Public perception around Auburn is, understandably, not great. If Bryan Harsin wants to continue coaching at Auburn, he needs this win desperately, and probably needs to take it convincingly. If he doesn’t, Auburn may be searching for his replacement sooner than later.