Mizzou making moves

This past Saturday I made the long trek from Iowa to Athens, Ga. to watch No. 25 Missouri take on the  seventh-ranked Georgia Bulldogs.

I had made the arrangements for the trip well before the season began. And heading into the season I was quite certain I had booked a weekend in mid-October that would be tons of fun with friends and family that would include plenty of southern eye candy, but would bring some anguish in terms of the actual football game. Then Mizzou began the season 5-0 and destroyed every opponent in their path, including Indiana and Vanderbilt on the road — both in which they opened up as Vegas underdogs.

Then the unthinkable happened for this life-long Mizzou fan. The Tigers went into Athens and their beautiful while altogether terrifying Sanford Stadium and thoroughly outplayed the Dawgs, winning 41-26 going away. It vaulted Mizzou (6-0, 2-0) to No. 14 in the AP poll, its highest ranking since 2010. And this little fantastic stat emerged out of the weekend: Two teams have beaten every opponent by at least 15 points — Oregon and Mizzou. Wild. Of course, in typical Mizzou fashion, QB James Franklin injured his shoulder on a questionable hit as he was getting rid of the ball and is expected to miss three to five weeks.

Look, if you follow this program as closely as I do you knew the talent was there. I was quite sure the Tigers were going to take the SEC by storm in their first season last year and was at the conference debut against Georgia in which they took a 17-9 lead into the fourth quarter before Jarvis Jones and the Georgia defense happened. Worse than the misleading 41-20 final score was the damage done to quarterback James Franklin and the offensive line late in that game. Jarvis Jones ruined Franklin on a couple hits in the fourth quarter and three starters up front went down with injuries and while none of us knew at the time, that was the end of the season. Franklin payed in just five more games and didn't look good in those games and backup freshman Corbin Berkstresser was a disaster behind a makeshift offensive line. It was a shame, really, because there was so much talent at the wide receiver position.

This season, all that talent remains for the most part, and Henry Josey returned from his devastating knee injury to complement a well above-average threesome in the backfield with senior Marcus Murphy and sophomore Russel Hansbrough. Dorial Green-Beckham is a flat out stud and is living up to his No. 1 recruit in the nation billing and he's arguably been the third best receiver on the team behind senior LaDamian Washington, who has seven touchdowns and senior Marcus Lucas.  Oh, and the offensive line is healthy. Stud sophomore lineman Evan Boehm has shifted to center and snaps are no longer hitting the feet or going over the head of the QB like they were seemingly once every series last year.

I knew the offense would be very good this year. There was too much talent for it not to be. The defense, however, was my main concern and I thought it would be the difference between this team winning seven games and say, nine.

The defense isn't Alabama, or even this week's opponent Florida, but as I was telling my Dad over the phone and pretty much any Mizzou fan in Athens that would listen, it's a big-play defense.

They get tons of pressure on opposing quarterbacks — ask Aaron Murray — thanks to a group of stellar defensive ends led by senior Michael Sam, who has six sacks and scored on a 21-yard fumble recovery to put Mizzou up 28-10 against Georgia. That constant duress they put on the QB has led to the wealth of turnovers the defense has created this season. The defense has 13 interceptions and two fumble recoveries and is +9 as a team.

It all equates to a 6-0 start. Being a Mizzou fan and knowing better, my first instinct is to wonder when it will all come to a screeching halt. But I've thought better of it after that Georgia trip. That game, no matter the injury troubles the Dawgs had at some key skill positions, was a statement by Mizzou. I don't know how much longer they can remain unbeaten, but the Tigers have made the fall a lot of fun so far.

No matter what happens in the next two games, which will no doubt determine whether this squad is capable of playing in the SEC Championship game or just a good team who will play in an above-average bowl game, I'm going to enjoy the ride.

The Tigers are legitimately a good football team, who will undergo a wild next three weeks with three straight home games against Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee. Go 3-0 in that stretch and they're a lock for the SEC East title. Go 2-1, it's intriguing still. Go 1-2, it's what everyone outside of Columbia, Mo. is expecting, and you're still 7-2. Go 0-3, well, that will suck.

But it all starts on Saturday at 11:20 a.m. Florida comes in with its putrid offense and formidable defense. Mizzou is starting a backup, first-year freshman quarterback in Maty Mauk to try and lead its high-powered offense, which has put up 45 points a game. Mauk is the all-time high school leader in passing yards and has the peripherals that are eerily similar to Mizzou legend Chase Daniel. Still, he's a complete unknown coming into this contest and it amps up the drama of the game even more.

The Tigers are a 3-point underdog, which continues the trend of the last two weeks. Only this time they are at home in what is sure to be a raucous crowd. (Full disclosure: It's very, very dissappointing this isn't a night game, because Mizzou fans tend to be a little lackluster in the a.m. but turn into freaking rock stars by night. That is obviously due to the massive amounts of alcohol we're able to consume prior to kickoff. See: The Oklahoma game in 2010 when College Gameday came to town. I'd put that crowd up against any home crowd in the country. It was electric. Again, night games equal more alcohol intake, which leads to lots of rowdy Mizzou fans. They are a very good thing. Beware South Carolina — especially if Mizzou pulls off this win and enters the 6 p.m. kickoff Oct. 25 7-0 and the SEC East is on the line.) 

My heart tells me Mauk will show out in his debut and the defense will take care of a brutal Gator offense and the Tigers win going away. But my mind and better college football judgment tells me this will be a close contest. It will take some time for Mauk to settle in against the freakishly talented Florida defense and the Mizzou defense will need to make-up for that. I think it will be a relatively low-scoring contest — Florida (4-2) is 0-2 when it doesn't score 20 points and both of those contests came on the road (Miami and LSU). I think that trend continues and that's why I'm picking Mizzou to remain undefeated for at least one more glorious week: Mizzou 23, Florida 17. 

I'll be at Homecoming against South Carolina and hope to even remember a few things to write about afterward.