Though Mizzou football fans may still be reeling from Saturday’s dramatic loss to LSU, a 5-1 start and an inspiring showing against one of the nation’s top offenses provides many reasons for optimism going forward. The freight train that is the 2023 football season rolls on this week as the Tigers head to Lexington to play the 5-1 Kentucky Wildcats.
Mizzou has opened as a slight underdog against a team that has proven to be a yearly boogeyman for the Tigers. Kentucky has won six-of-the-last-seven meetings and the series usually provides at least one baffling, head-scratching moment that works in UK’s favor.
5 thoughts on Mizzou football heading in to the Kentucky game
- The season is half over. Most Mizzou fans would have signed up for a 5-1 start and not thought twice about it. What happens over the next six weeks will determine how this season is viewed. A loss to Kentucky could derail a once-promising season. Likewise, a win gets the Tigers back on track with winnable games still left on the schedule.
- The Tiger offense has proven to be lethal. Missouri should be able to stay in any game left on its schedule based on the offense’s ability to score consistently. Luther Burden is making a case as the country’s best receiver and Brady Cook continues to light it up at an alarming clip. Turnovers doomed the Tigers against LSU, a trend that can’t continue if this team wants to have a strong finish.
- The defense, however, has regressed. You can officially say that now. Last year, Missouri stayed in games with its defense, now, it’s closer to a liability. The front four is not creating any type of consistent pressure and the back end has struggled mightily. Can the defense get things back on track? Absolutely. LSU was not exactly the best barometer considering it’s one of the top offensive team’s in the nation but lining up and getting blown up against Kentucky would cause great concern.
- Kentucky may have been exposed a bit by Georgia. We see now what the Bulldogs are capable of when they put together an A-game. Kentucky had hyped this game up as a changing of the guard in the SEC East and that went over like a fart in church as the Wildcats fell 51-13. They will be hungry returning home to face a Missouri team that feels like it should be 6-0 right now. History tells us that the loser will have a hard time finding it’s way up the division standings. Kentucky’s offensive weakness appears to be the QB as Devin Leary is immobile and his accuracy has been called into question.
- A special season is still on the board for Mizzou. A win on Saturday puts you right back in the conversation for a potential 9/10 win season. November 4th against Georgia looks like the only sure loss on the schedule and, even so, we’e seen the Bulldogs look beatable all season until last Saturday. Can this team find a way to win four against Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and Arkansas? 9-3 would show real signs of improvement for a program that has been stuck in 6-6 land for far too long. If losses start to pile up and it’s 6-6 again or even 7-5, it’s going to feel like yet another season got away.
