The Florida Gators are set to clash with the Missouri Tigers on Saturday. I reached out to Sammy Stava, a contributor to Rock M Nation, to learn more about Missouri. Here’s our Q&A.
NM- Missouri is coming off two emotional losses to Auburn and Georgia. How do you expect this team to respond against Florida and the rest of the schedule?
SS- It’s tough to start the season 2-3 (0-2 SEC), but Mizzou’s first two losses in conference play have been by a combined seven points. After the demoralizing overtime loss to a bad Auburn team, many expected this Missouri team to get blown out by Georgia. No moral victories of course, but Mizzou deserves credit for going toe-to-toe with the No. 1 team in the country after the Auburn game they really should have won. I believe this Mizzou team is better than their record shows. How will they respond? We’ll see. There are still winnable games on this schedule and if they play the way did against Georgia — a bowl game isn’t out of the question for the Tigers. I can’t guarantee wins, but I believe this team still will respond well and won’t roll over.
NM- Missouri enters this game at 2-3. In week two, Missouri suffered a 40-12 loss against Kansas State. In week five, Missouri nearly knocked off the #1 team in the nation. In what areas have you seen improvement over the last three weeks? What areas still need improvement?
SS- Missouri’s defense has been pretty good this season and that’s a unit that continues to improve under defensive coordinator Blake Baker. The Tigers defense currently ranks 40th in ESPN’s Bill Connelly’s SP+ rankings. I know 40th isn’t exactly elite, but at the end of last season they ranked 100th under DC Steve Wilks. Overall, the defense hasn’t been a problem this season and it’s clearly the strength of the team.
The areas that need to be improved is consistent quarterback play and the offensive line to generate any kind of offensive success. This team also needs to be more disciplined as they have allowed 14 penalties combined these last two games.
NM- Missouri QB Brady Cook has completed 63.1 percent of his passes for five touchdowns and four interceptions. He’s also added two rushing touchdowns. How would you grade/evaluate Brady Cook’s performance this season? Is Cook a rushing threat?
SS- I believe that Brady Cook is a solid and adequate quarterback that can get this Mizzou team to six wins if everything goes right. However, I just don’t believe he has the talent to take over games and become an All-SEC quarterback. He’s been fine this season, but that’s just it – fine. For Missouri to be good the rest of the way, he needs to be better. However, Cook is a rushing threat which Mizzou didn’t have last season with an injured Connor Bazelak. If the quarterback doesn’t improve and Mizzou is at 2-4, I’d like to see four-star freshman Sam Horn get the start in their next game against Vanderbilt.
NM-I couldn’t help but notice Missouri shy away from the run game last week against Georgia. Missouri running backs averaged 8.4 yards per carry but only ran the ball 15 times. How do you expect Missouri to attack Florida this Saturday?
SS- I guess it depends on how this game unfolds. Missouri has some good running back depth led by Stanford running back transfer Nathaniel Peat and D-II transfer Cody Schrader who has been a pleasant surprise this season going from D-II to the SEC. The depth will be tested though as running back Elijah Young has been ruled out. Wide receivers Dominic Lovett and Barrett Banister have also been ruled as questionable. With all of these potentially significant injuries, Drinkwitz and Missouri are going to need to get creative if they want to successfully attack Florida on the offensive side.
NM- Missouri comes in as an 11-point underdog. How do you see the game going this Saturday?
SS- If this game was in Columbia, I think Mizzou would have what it would take to come away with a win, but I just can’t pick this Missouri team on the road. I picked them to win at Auburn, I can’t pick them at Florida in The Swamp. I think they will show up and compete, but the Gators win a close one 28-24.
You can follow Sammy Stava on twitter @StavaonSTL