There's confidence from those close to the Missouri Tigers football program who feel Eli Drinkwitz may have the makings of a legitimate College Football Playoff contender -- and could well use their next two matchups, against the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers, as a springboard to national relevance.
PowerMizzou's Gabe Dearmond predicts Missouri delivering deadly results for Kalen DeBoer and Hugh Freeze as the two Yellowhammer State headmen look to earn favor back with their fanbases after early season losses and disappointing 2024 results.
Dearmond predicts Mizzou grinding the game to a halt with the Crimson Tide this coming Saturday in Columbia.
"Missouri's path to victory is to control the ground game and the clock as it has all season and hit a couple big plays on offense. If Mizzou can win the time of possession battle the way it has been doing, it reduces the number of times the Alabama offense has a chance to score. End just two or three of those drives without points and hold a couple more to field goals and you're right there. It won't be easy. The winner of this game is going to have to get to 30. We think Missouri will," Dearmond wrote.
As for knocking off Auburn, Dearmond believes Missouri's defensive front will do what the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas A&M Aggies did: beat up Jackson Arnold behind the line of scrimmage and in broken plays.
"The Auburn offense isn't great. While it may have the best receiving corps in the league, still hasn't taken all the steps everyone expected and the line can't protect him at all. The Tigers have allowed 21 sacks in five games, dead last of 136 FBS teams. Ten of those came against Oklahoma. This is the game we find out if Mizzou's defensive line is all it's cracked up to be. We think it is, or at least close. Damon Wilson II and Zion Young are both having monster seasons. and have been better than they're getting credit for. Give us five sacks for Missouri and an Auburn offense that struggles again," Dearmond wrote.
If AU loses to the Georgia Bulldogs this weekend in the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry, a subsequent loss to Mizzou would be all she wrote for Freeze on the Plains. Especially if it's in the fashion the past two losses have been. Freeze's offense cannot survive more futile outings.
The Bammers would blow a gasket if DeBoer's team had a letdown on the road again. There'd be little faith in DeBoer coming anywhere close to Nick Saban's standard if he had a sixth road loss within his first two seasons.
Missouri can destroy most of the state of Alabama's population by the end of October.
It's spooky season alright.