Mizzou Gameday!

Kansas State hosts Missouri today in a marquee non-conference matchup with plenty of history. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 AM and the game will air on ESPN2.

The last time Mizzou played in Manhattan, Collin Klein was the quarterback for the Wildcats. More than a decade later, he’s now the offensive coordinator and Kansas State is coming off an easy shutout win over South Dakota. There’s also new optimism around the program off a decent 2021 campaign and renewed faith in Chris Klieman, but Kansas State’s reputation as a one-coach school might be tough to change.

For both teams, today’s game is a major upgrade in competition. In its first game, Kansas State had nearly 300 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. Meanwhile, in a blowout win over Louisiana Tech, Mizzou only gave up seven yards on the ground. Something has to give, right? Let’s hope it’s the Tigers’ run defense.

Missouri’s own running game looked pretty good in their opener too, but the Kansas State defense should be up to the task according to our own Drew Schneider. The view from the other side is a little different. Mizzou’s defense has plenty of respect for what Deuce and the Cats can do on the ground, so they’re going to stick to being as disciplined as possible, at least according to head coach Eli Drinkwitz (Dave Matter, St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

Most prognosticators are picking the Cats to win. Kellis Robinett thinks the home crowd that wowed Adrian Martinez, some rainy weather and Deuce Vaughn will be the difference, leading to a 31-24 win for Kansas State (Wichita Eagle). Mizzou beat writer Dave Matter agrees with Kellis, picking Kansas State in a 27-21 game. Even our erstwhile friends at Rock M Nation think the Cats will win.

But not everyone! Here’s CFN’s Pete Fiutak calling for a close Mizzou win based on more takeaways and being able to do more on offense. Pfft.

My own view is that it’s nice to just talk about college football again and not bands and chants and general nonsense.

Let’s go Cats!