Texas A&M football opponent breakdown: First look - Missouri Tigers

First look at Texas A&M football’s upcoming opponent: Missouri Tigers present challenging downfield threat

Texas A&M football, after a four-game sojourn against lower-quality opponents, will be thrust back into the limelight this Saturday against another ranked foe. Sure, winning against McNeese, Florida, Bowling Green, and Arkansas is nice, but it’s time for another test.

When the Missouri Tigers come to town this weekend, it will be the second of four huge home games for the Aggies. After failing in the first one on opening night, can the Aggies get to 1-1 in these key contests?

It won’t be an easy task. Missouri came into the year ranked as a top-10 team, and it’s not hard to see why. 

Experienced veteran passer Brady Cook and explosive WR Luther Burden—the only WR rated higher than erstwhile Aggie Evan Stewart in the 2022 class—form a formidable tandem for the Tigers, and Mizzou brought back a lot of experience on defense as well. Both facets have contributed mightily to the current undefeated record in CoMo.

All that said, they haven’t quite gotten there in the way that Mizzou fans imagined. The opening slate of Buffalo, Murray State, Boston College, and Vanderbilt looked like the cake walk to end all cake walks—but it’s been tougher sledding than most imagined.

BC pushed Missouri to the brink in their third game of the year, and Vandy rolled in a couple of weeks ago and took the Tigers to overtime. Even a 38-0 drubbing of Buffalo looks slightly less impressive now that UConn vanquished the Bulls 47-3.

Cook and Burden haven’t quite made the explosive pairing this year that most anticipated. Instead, it has been senior RB Nate Noel who has helped provide a lot of the offense, currently averaging 6.39 YPC on 17.25 carries per game.

The defense, though, has been pretty stout. For the second week in a row, the Aggies will be going up against a nasty rush defense—and that could really stretch what A&M can do offensively, even in front of a raucous home crowd.

There’s still so much unknown about the Tigers. How will they do on the road? How will Cook do under pressure? Both Vandy and BC notched 3 sacks against Mizzou, but it’s fair to say that the pressure they can put on a front is nothing compared to what A&M will.

For me, it comes down to a worry about the Aggies’ ability to produce against a front like Missouri’s—especially when they don’t fear the threat of the pass. If we roll Reed out there again, Mizzou will be content to man up on the outside and load up against the run, just like Arkansas did.

But this is a better offense than Arkansas’s—and a better defense. This could get ugly for the Aggies in that case. For whatever lack of success the Tigers have had so far, the potential of Cook and Burden far exceeds any duo that A&M has yet seen.

If it is indeed Reed once more, this will be a tough game for the Aggies. They will need to either break off some explosives, decisively win the turnover battle, or some other crazy bounce to go their way in a game like that.

I just am not sure I can pick the Aggies with Reed at signal caller. I see a 21-17 type of game in favor of the Tigers in that situation. However, if A&M has Weigman back and he is operating at full bore, then that shifts things significantly. In that case, I think it would be tough to hold the Ags under 30; I’d go something like 31-17 A&M if it’s no. 15.

This is a watershed moment for the Aggies. Can they take advantage?