Auburn (2-4, 0-3 SEC) will face off against No. 19 Missouri (5-1, 1-1) this Saturday at 12 p.m. ET, with the game being broadcasted on ESPN. The current odds from BetMGM favor Missouri by 4.5 points. In the historical matchup between the two teams, Auburn leads the series with a record of 3-1.
Missouri is still optimistic about contending for the SEC championship and securing a spot in the College Football Playoff, despite suffering a heavy defeat to Texas A&M recently. It is crucial for the Tigers to win at home against Auburn, who has yet to claim victory in their first three conference games. Last week, Missouri participated in a non-conference matchup at UMass, coming away with an impressive win to boost their morale.
A key matchup to watch will be Auburn’s running back Jarquez Hunter taking on the Missouri run defense, which has struggled as demonstrated by allowing Texas A&M to amass 236 rushing yards and five touchdowns in a lopsided 41-10 loss. Hunter has had a strong season so far, accumulating 528 rushing yards and averaging an impressive 6.8 yards per carry.
Players to keep an eye on include Auburn’s wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who has emerged as a significant contributor since transferring from Penn State. Although he has only 24 receptions, he has gained a remarkable 510 yards and scored six touchdowns, averaging over 21 yards per catch. On Missouri’s side, running back Marcus Carroll may see a heavier workload as teammate Nate Noel recovers from a back injury that sidelined him during the UMass game. Carroll performed well, recording 15 carries for 91 yards and three touchdowns against UMass.
In terms of historical data, Missouri triumphed in the debut meeting of these two schools at the Sun Bowl back on December 29, 1973. Since then, Auburn has won all three encounters as SEC rivals, including a notable victory of 59-42 in the 2013 SEC championship game. This season, Auburn leads the nation with an impressive 10 players catching touchdown passes. Additionally, they are ranked first in the SEC and fourth nationally for yards per completion at 15.79, and also sit ninth for yards per play with 7.35.
Missouri recently secured its first true nonconference road win since a victory over Purdue in 2018. Coach Eli Drinkwitz is currently tied with Larry Smith for seventh in all-time wins for the program, with a total of 33 victories. The Tigers were flawless in the red zone against UMass, converting all four attempts, which gives them a 24 out of 25 success rate this season. Since the previous season, they have excelled, converting 80 out of 83 red zone chances. Quarterback Brady Cook has amassed 7,829 passing yards and requires just 971 yards to move ahead of Brad Smith for third place in the school’s history for passing yards. Despite facing a shoulder injury in the last game against UMass, wide receiver Luther Burden III still managed to make five receptions and has now caught at least one pass in 28 consecutive games.