College Football Game of the Week: No. 9 Missouri vs. No. 25 Texas A&M

Last week brought us an electric matchup in the SEC. This week's matchup is the only ranked game that can shake up the conference.

Game preview:

The Missouri Tigers head to College Station to take on conference rival Texas A&M in a Top-25 matchup on Saturday.

It’s been an interesting start to the 2024 campaign for the Tigers. With the team barely losing anybody from last year's squad and a favorable schedule, many expected the Tigers to contend for a playoff spot.

The Missouri Tigers come into this matchup quietly 4-0, which many expected, but it's the way they have gotten here. Mizzou cruised in their first two wins over Murray State and Buffalo but then had some nail-biters.

The Tigers had a tough test in their last two games. Week 3 against Boston College, where they ousted the Eagles 27-21 and Vanderbilt in Week 4 in a close 30-27 double OT victory to stay undefeated. Missouri owned the ground by rushing 40 times for 216 yards.

Quarterback Brady Cook has had an average start to his season, with 946 yards, 8 total touchdowns and one interception to go along with it. Cook has completed about 68% of his passes this year.

Wide receiver Luther Burden III has had a slower start to the season than people expected with only 19 grabs for 257 yards through four games. For a guy who had over 1,200 receiving yards a year ago, it's a bit surprising to not see Burden dominating opposing secondaries.

Missouri has a chance to right the ship in a big-time road Week 6 conference matchup.

Mike Elko’s squad might be the most battle-tested in the nation through five weeks of the season. After a tough loss to Notre Dame back in Week 1, the Aggies have boasted wins over Florida on the road and Arkansas at Jerry’s World this past weekend.

The strong start to the year is impressive due to the fact that Texas A&M once again has quarterback issues with Connor Weigman going down with injury for the second straight season.

Freshman QB Marcel Reed has taken over as the Aggie signal caller and has played decently through four games.

Reed has completed 43 of his 79 pass attempts for a 54.4 completion percentage. He also has 6 touchdowns along with no interceptions in his four appearances.

A&M running back Le’Veon Moss has been solid on the ground this season as well with 76 carries for 471 yards and three scores.

The Aggies are also legitimately good on defense and have made just enough plays on offense in order to be a respectable team in the SEC so far.

This week is a big test for A&M as they need to win this one to have any shot at a future playoff appearance in 2024.

Game prediction:

This is a very interesting game in the SEC. We have yet to see the Mizzou offense we saw from a year ago. The offense ranks near the bottom in explosive plays this season but Eli Drinkwitz’s squad has still found success by running the ball.

The Aggies have had issues offensively as well. The A&M offense only put together one sustained drive a week ago against Arkansas.

Combine that with the fact that Missouri has one of the best pass defenses and their ability to get after the quarterback, it might be a long day for the Aggie offense.

Missouri needs to have a big-time breakout game and I think they get it this weekend.

Give me Mizzou over the Aggies 24-17.

Austin Moran is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email acm6506@psu.edu.