Missouri Tigers 2022 College Football Preview
August 9, 2022
2021 Recap
Record – 6-7
ATS – 4-9
It was an up-and-down season for the Tigers as they never won (or lost) more than two games in a row. They upset Florida in the 2nd last game of the regular season (W 24-23, OT) to clinch bowl eligibility only to fall to Army in the Armed Forces Bowl (L 24-22).
The season wasn’t a disaster, but fans will note that Missouri hasn’t pocketed a winning season since 2018.
Missouri Tigers 2022 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Tigers were decent on offense LY (#59 FBS scoring offense, #61 total offense) but they really didn’t take full advantage of QB Connor Bazelak and star RB Tyler Badie (1,604, 10 TD; 54 receptions). Both of those men are gone and it’ll be interesting to see how things go. The QB situation is a question mark but you have to like the chances of Brady Cook who looked just fine in the bowl game (27-34, 238, TD). The WR/TE group looks pretty sketchy on paper but we’re hoping that highly-touted specimen and true freshman WR Luther Burden gets a chance to strut his stuff in 2022. Losing Badie is a killer but maybe Stanford transfer Nathaniel Peat can be a #1 horse? Stay tuned. The OL might be the strength of the offense as they bring back four starters with imposing size, and note that they bagged a good replacement for departed center Michael Maietti thru the portal. We’ll call for a drop in overall production given the loss of Badie and the unproven talent at WR.
DEFENSE
That wasn’t YO MOMMA’S 2019 Missouri Tigers defense that we witnessed LY, that’s for sure. Missouri allowed 33.8 PPG (2nd worst SEC) and gave up an impossible 227 YPG on the ground (dead last SEC). The Tigers are hoping that new DC Blake Baker can mold eight returning starters and a small handful of transfer portal pick-ups into a much more effective unit. The DL should be pretty good with the return of DEs Isaiah McGuire and Trajan Jeffcoat who combined for 9.5 sacks and 24 (!) TFL in 2021, and they added a bunch of FRESH FISH up front for depth. We’re not as crazy about the back seven but they have plenty of returning starters to rely upon, several of which are underclassmen. We expect a better performance this year, particularly vs the run.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Yes, guy.
The Tigers have to find a new punter but they feature an AA PK in Harrison Mevis who was awesome during his freshman campaign in 2021 (23-25 FG, 3-3 50+, 41-41 XP). Also recall that Kris Abrams-Draine had a KR TD LY.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – The Tigers have to be happy with their schedule. They get three TOMATO CANS in non-conference play and miss ROLL TIDE and Texas A&M from the West. There are no back-to-back road games on the docket.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – November 19 – New Mexico St
This game is sandwiched between SEC battles with Tennessee (A) and WOO PIG (H). It’s unlikely that we’ll be playing the home favorite in this one.
Season Win Total
per BetOnline Aug 7
Over 5.5 +115
Under 5.5 -145
MEGALOCKS says:
No leanage.
They’re surely gonna get three wins in non-conference play. Can they win three SEC games? Feels like a coin flip, yo.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Missouri hasn’t had a losing record at home since 2012 (!!) when they went 3-4.
The Tigers haven’t won in the postseason since the 2014 Citrus Bowl when they defeated Minnesota by a score of 33-17.
MEGALOCKS Outlook:
It just might be BOWL GAME OR BUST for HC Eliah Drinkwitz as the first two years of his regime have been pretty disappointing. We think the the defense will be sneaky-good this year but there are a lot of questions on offense, and that ain’t great when you’re playing in the SEC. We’ll call for 5-6 wins and hope that they can find a way to cobble together a half-dozen and make a bowl game.
Want more Missouri football ?
WEBSITE
https://mutigers.com/sports/football
FORUM
http://www.secrant.com/rant/mizzou-sports/
http://tigerboard.com/boards/list.php?board=2
http://interact.stltoday.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=13
https://missouri.forums.rivals.com/forums/the-tigers-lair.16/
NEWS
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/sec/university-of-missouri/
https://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/142/missouri-tigers