#14 Mizzou @ Baylor football preview

Tigers invade Waco looking to take control in Big 12 North

Preview: Coming into Waco on the heels of a 58-0 rout of Colorado, the Missouri Tigers look to continue redeeming themselves from back-to-back losses earlier in the season that essentially eliminated them from not only the BCS Championship game and perhaps a BCS appearance all together. They face a staunch team in the Baylor Bears, a team as underrate as any in the country. In the Big XII, a league that fields Chase Daniel, Colt McCoy, Graham Harrell, Todd Reesing, Zack Robinson and Sam Bradford, the Baylor Bears have their own young up and coming quarterback in freshman Robert Griffin. The game kicks off at 3:00 ET at Floyd Casey Stadium.

When Missouri has the ball:

Chase Daniel and his high-powered offense will have no problem moving the ball against the Bears. Currently ranked 72th in the nation against the run and 87th against the pass, the Bears will be unable to contain Daniel’s connection to Jeremy Maclin and Derrick Washington on the ground. Missouri will be able to run its spread as effectively as ever by completing short passes to Danario Alexander and Chase Coffman and setting up the running game with Washington before Daniel starts looking downfield to find Maclin. There are too many weapons for Missouri and Baylor does not have the manpower to hold all of them in check.

Daniel will be wary from throwing in the direction of Baylor linebacker junior Joe Pawelek. Fourth in the nation in total tackles, he’ll be the man tabbed with stopping Washington and eliminating part of Missouri’s offense. He’s currently fourth in the nation in total tackles. He’s experienced with a nose for locating the ball and getting to ball carriers after playing since his freshman year. He can also drop back into coverage and already has two interceptions as a linebacker this season. Also worth noting is cornerback Antareis Bryan, a budding sophomore star at cornerback who will line up across from Maclin on most downs. He’ll get help over the top from free safety Jordan Lake, a 2008 All-American and Thorpe Award candidate. Lake has played up to form this season, showing flashes of powerful hit capability when moving up to stop the run, but he lacks the agility and speed to keep up with Maclin. He will need to play deep when helping Bryan, but in doing so will leave the front of the Bears Swiss-cheese defensive front susceptible to Missouri’s running game. Despite the obvious experience and talent of Pawelek, Bryan and Lake, the Bears’ defense will have its hands full early and often from the Tigers offense.

When Baylor has the ball:

In a year when the media has swarmed over the clear talent and efficiency of Big XII quarterbacks, Baylor’s Robert Griffin has been the odd-man-out. Sure, he’s not the most accurate of the quarterbacks in the Big XII—he sports a completion percentage just shy of 59 percent—but he doesn’t make mistakes. As a freshman quarterback starting for an FBS school in a major conference, Griffin has thrown zero interceptions in 175 pass attempts. He also leads the team in rushing, having run for 554 yards and nine touchdowns—not too shabby when added to his 1405 yards and nine touchdowns through the air.

Missouri has had trouble on defense stopping dual-threat quarterbacks, evident in their losses against Oklahoma State’s Zac Robinson and Texas’s Colt McCoy. Although young, Griffin has run for over 100 yards in three games this season, including ripping off an eye-popping 217 rushing yards against Washington State. Sean Weatherspoon and William Moore of Missouri will alternate spying on Baylor’s mobile quarterback. The Bears have little else to offer on offense, so bottling up Griffin will be the key to taking care of Baylor on this side of the ball. When pressured, which could happen often with Styker Sulak and Ziggy Hood manning the defensive front, Griffin will look to find fellow freshman Kendall Wright.

No one knows what to expect from the Missouri defense this week. After holding Colorado scoreless last week—after giving up 56 the week before— Missouri wants to forget about the past and continue building on their momentum. If Griffin is neutralized, the momentum will swing unwaveringly in their favor.

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Final Mizzou @ Baylor Notes:

This game is purely a game of numbers. Missouri has Chase Daniel, Chase Coffman, Jeremy Maclin, Derrick Washington, Danario Alexander, Tommy Saunders and Jared Perry. Baylor has only Robert Griffin. The odds are stacked in Missouri’s favor when it comes to bottling up the Bears’ playmaker, and Baylor has a steep hill to climb in trying to cover everyone the Tigers will have on the field.

The numbers win: Missouri 45 - Baylor 10

By Cory Spicer
Big 12 Fans Missouri Tigers Correspondent

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