Can Mizzou's Defense Stop Kamario Taylor? | All Things Mizzou 9/25

0:00From kickoff to the final whistle, trade the biggest moments of football on CalShi America's number one prediction market platform. Denver is currently trading at 40% to upset Los Angeles, meaning $100 trade pays out $197 if they win. Download CalShi Use Code Hoops to get $25 when you trade $25 KAL, SHI, CalShi, trade what's next. 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risks and may not be suitable for our own investors. CalShi products are not available in all jurisdictions, prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, seek CalShi.com-ragulatory. Welcome into the All Things Mizzou podcast presented by David Starns, All-Stay Agency, and Mizzou on KCSN and Missouri on SI on Zach Knox Doyle joined by Killian Wright. As always,

1:04this week we are going to do a little bit what we did last week. We're going to go give some takeaways from the week three game against Troy and then we are going to spend the second half getting into the Mississippi state contest and kind of like we did last week, a mod hearty update, he will not be playing in the Mississippi state game. Dera Smith is questionable, so those are kind of the two big injury reports that we got last night from SEC and with that I think we should hop into the Troy takeaways. Killian, if you want to start us off with that, maybe start with some some positives from this game. Obviously a 27 to 17 victory, a lot of Mizzou fans aren't necessarily thrilled with the win, but they're still positive to take away from the skin. Yeah, we'll start with the positives. I think the biggest positive that you probably have from this game is that the run blocking looked really good or better than it had against Kansas and

2:06Pine Bluff marginally. Yeah, there were still some holding penalties that were a little funky. I know Piggler had one on the big run, the Jamal, that was like all right, kind of negated the big play there, but overall the run blocking was a lot better and that just had to happen because my goodness, there was only so much Jamal Roberts can do. I mean, as great as he is, if he's not getting any, if he's not getting any holes to cut through, if he's not getting any space before there's multiple defenders like at the line of scrimmage meeting him there, like, man, what is he supposed to do? So the run blocking looking good is nice. There are some nice pull action. I think Luke work has actually been really great in that department too. He's kind of impressed me with his mobility over there as far as the way he's kind of able to get out and help Jamal in those longer runs. Like on the, like when Piggler got the holding one over there, Luke work was pretty quick to jump out. I think that's probably your main takeaway because obviously like we're having

3:06a bit of inverted identity with Mizu right now where it's like Austin Simmons in the past game, is like the focal point. But like, let's not forget that like that the drink thing is the run game. Like that is the drink offense. So having the run game back is like, okay, this looks much more said that what we saw against Troy with the run game is way closer to what I envisioned the run game being before the season than what it looked like against Pinebluff and Kansas. So that's my main positive is that hey, at least for the offense, the main positive is that rum blocking looks like it's starting to catch it stride at the right time. And hopefully that continues for Missouri's sake because if they want to, we'll talk about it later with some of my keys to the game for that state win if Mizu wants to be state, but the run game is going to be pretty important to that. So that's my main positive takeaway for the offense.

4:06Yeah, I think that's something that that we both saw and talked a lot about and it's easy, at least the first two weeks, it was easy to be like, oh no, it's like Jamal Roberts, not the answer is he not going to be able to fulfill like the the shoes that Ahmad Hardy left. And the answer, yes, he's he's still a great running back. And obviously it'll be great when or if Ahmad Hardy comes back, but it looks like Jamal Roberts is going to be able to carry the load, especially with this run blocking looking a lot better. But I think it's important to remember and we can get into this a little bit later, but it seems like every every game, there is something that I feel a lot more confident about than I did the last time, but then what I felt confident about the game before I lost a lot of my confidence. And I guess we can use that to segue into Austin Simmons. We came into this game feeling very confident about Austin Simmons. He had to nearly perfect contest where he was throwing balls that we have not seen. Last year we didn't really see anything to that caliber from the passing game at all. And then he goes 10 for 19, 100,

5:12Nate Yards, one touchdown zero in receptions. No takeaways is good. That's honestly probably the only positive. There was a lot of balls that were being overthrown, missing wide wide open receivers, just throwing to a different receiver when there's multiple open receivers down the field. And just some little mistakes that we saw a lot of last year, which is a little bit concerning, but after having a few days to process it, I think it's not as bad as we initially, or at least I initially thought, I know you said, okay, like kind of chalked it up to maybe this could be a flute game. And I feel like that is probably hopefully what it is. He didn't make many outrageous mistakes. There weren't like if he threw two or three interceptions against Troy, Mizzou fans should be feeling pretty poor right now. But he didn't make any outlandish mistakes. Obviously didn't look very good. But I think they're still going to be, we're still going to see

6:13some progress. And it's going to be really important to see what he does in the SEC game against Mississippi State. I mean, I think for me, I think I said this immediately after the game. I know I said it on the podcast yesterday. And I know I've receded in some articles like I am like not really in the least bit worried about the past game to be totally honest. Really? I'm not very concerned. And I'm pretty outspoken usually when I am concerned about something with this team. And it doesn't really concern me with the past game. I think there were so many things like the word I used and you know, I drink what's used to describe the performance of the past game against Troy was uncharacteristic. And it's just, it just was. It didn't feel right. Like even the things that were wrong were not the same things that were wrong last year with with either Missouri's quarterbacks or with Austin Simmons last year. Like guys like this was not a great Austin Simmons game. Yeah, but like you got to remember last year like he threw two interceptions against Georgia State. Now he threw two interceptions against Kentucky. Now you threw another one. He threw

7:18another one against the Citadel. Guys, this was not like this was not a great performance by Austin Simmons, but this was not something to be like overly concerned about in my opinion. Like I think the main things here were just like he was missing. It wasn't more so that he was making these really like dumb, arant, reckless mistakes. It was more so to me like he was just kind of missing balls, which based on what we saw in the first couple of weeks, like I don't think that's going to be a consistent thing. Like I don't know why exactly things were a little bit off. Like maybe Mizzou was looking ahead to state too much or it was the first Saturday night game of the year. Maybe that had thrown something off or I don't know, but I mean, it was really just like these ball placements was off by like a couple inches, half a foot, and then like there were sometimes where he had guys open and shorter and the short field and would kind of pass them up to look down field. Then it wouldn't work out there. And then like there was a couple drops and Caleb

8:18Goodie slept down. Like there was just some things that felt uncharacteristic of issues with the team. Like I'll ask you about this act too, but like the mistakes that we saw last year with Mizzou's quarterback and passing play like between whether it was Pribula in the second half of the year or his allers when he was playing like there were times when those guys looked shook and they looked a little bit lost. And overall like the past game just felt like wow, like we are going at like it felt like at one point like you would be watching the game and it's like oh, Mizzou's going to have to run the next 20 plays because the passing doesn't work at all against Troy here. This felt like wow, the passing needs to get better because we know it can like hopefully like Simmons can connect with someone on the next play. Like I didn't have this feeling of oh my god, Mizzou needs to run the ball every play. That's how I felt against Arkansas and at times against Oklahoma and at times against Auburn where it's like well, even then like in the Auburn games and a little bit of Oklahoma too, it's just like the hard to run on those teams because they were just

9:22ignoring the past game. But basically what I'm trying to say is the feeling that I had when like watching the past game struggle against Troy is not at all the same feeling I had when I saw it struggle last year. Yeah, I think that's a that's a very fair assessment. And one thing that I think I haven't really thought a whole lot about, but I mean the time of possession is important as well. In the first half, I believe it was just about 10 minutes, maybe less than Mizzou spent on offense. And then throughout the game, I think they spent about 23 minutes on offense compared to 37 for Troy. It's hard to get a rhythm offensively when when that's happening. And I think that that came from the 10 minute drive that Troy had in the first quarter. I mean, it's hard to start getting your offense clicking on all cylinders when that's happening. And you have the DeMarian folks of Pumper turn touchdown for 68 yards. And obviously that's a that's a great thing. That's great for

10:22special teams, but you look at the offense and it's like, okay, you thought you were just about to get back out there. Now you're not. Now you have to adjust. Now you have to wait longer. Like all these little things could lead to things being a little bit different. The run blocking looked a lot better. So you're giving Jamal Roberts a higher a higher workload again, trying to get him involved. That takes a little bit away from the passing game. So I think it's just kind of a balancing act that Missouri is working towards right now. And I was I was pretty hypercritical right off the bat. I know I think I think I gave Simmons like a a D grade for that game. I'd probably bring it up to like a C now. If I if I kind of after looking back at it a little bit, obviously wasn't wasn't a good performance necessarily, but not anything that I'm overly concerned about. And I think against we'll get into Mississippi state in their secondary, but I think Simmons could definitely thrive in that game. Yeah. There there was no point. Well, there was a there was a near one, but overall like I didn't feel like Simmons was like consistently putting

11:26the ball in danger. Like Troy did have that one dropped in our section. That was like, well, yikes, but overall it didn't feel like a consistent thing or it was like I was nervous for him to look down field because I was worried about that. And it didn't feel like he was limiting himself either on like where he was looking. You just felt more of like it was covered when he was looking down field. I think again, just two more things there that were very different from the struggles of the past game last season to where I just I do think this is I I'm willing to call it a fluke. I do think they bounce back against state in that the past game still ends up being way better than it was last year, both from a talent perspective and the scheme perspective. They've obviously been going also a lot more to those four receiver sets, which has been interesting. Something they basically they just didn't really do it all last year. I think that you could also be kind of a personnel thing. I think there's more receivers who can do more things on this year's roster.

12:27Like when you look at Marquis Johnson, he pretty much exclusively a deep threat last year. You look at Josh Manning, like kind of just okay at everything, but really it felt like he was just really awesome run blocker more than anything. And then like Kevin Coleman was pretty exclusively in that short short short to intermediate area of the field. And then Don on the Loubit, he was still coming on to his own. But like now you've got a Loubit who's kind of been a versatile weapon everywhere. And then Lee who is much more of like can run deep over the middle. I feel like then Coleman can and there's a little bit better jump ball stuff going on than Coleman did. And then I think you've also got like nation and shunt area are just much more deployable across the field than maybe Manning was and Marquis Johnson was. So I don't know. But the past game, like I expect the past game to bounce back against state. Like I think you're probably looking at another 250 yard game multiple touchdowns from Simmons. I would expect at least I'm willing to

13:28go out and call this one afloek. Yeah, I agree. Let's switch gears go defensively here. We spent a little time talking about the defensive line and how it has looked pretty impressive. But then the question is, okay, is are they going to be able to hold up against SEC play as Langdon Kitchen going to be able to elevate into SEC play? Obviously we're going to be seeing Dayton Hopkins play some some real SEC minutes. Obviously last year we saw it against state actually where he had that breakout game. But he didn't get a whole lot of opportunities that were trying to preserve that red shirt, which isn't a thing anymore. But with all that being said, I think the defensive line is looked really good. I think there's been a deep tackle room as well. We've seen last game. This was really interesting looking at the snaps. And I know killing you just had an article about this. I don't know how deep you went into the the snap count for the tackle room. But Jason Dowl, Marquis Scrassey, all Jalen Marshall, Sterling Webb, Dante Simpson all played at least 20 snaps in that Troy game. And drink with said after the game that he was playing people, he was

14:33confident in it. He wanted to put more people and he wasn't able to. So these we could see rotation like this. I think it probably will get condensed a little bit more. But we could be seeing three, four, five tackles getting a lot of time, getting a lot of snaps throughout the season. And to me, I've been impressed by all of that. I haven't I don't think there's been a glaring issue with any of them. And now we're just going to have to see if they can take that next step. Do you think the defensive line is going to be able to take a next step or are they going to take a little step back once we get to see what? I don't know if I'm like willing to call it a strength of the team. But I also don't think I'd call it a weakness. I think Dowell and Simpson have both had moments that like stuck out and impressed me. Both of them getting in the backfield. They're both on the smaller side, but kind of use that agility, the kind of weave around. And they're a little more explosive, maybe than Marquis's. So you have some variety there in the defensive tackle room

15:38that you can kind of deploy and utilize in different spots. And I think overall, I mean, going into the season, I thought this and it seems like it's holding up that the snap count and the defensive tackle room is going to be much more even this year than it was last year. Like last year with Chris McClellan, who was pretty obviously like far and away the best in the group. You had McClellan play like 550 snaps and the next step was sterling web at 400 and then next step was Marquis at 257 and then Jalen Marshall just a shy under 200. So you've got, it was pretty solidified last year as McClellan far and away one, then web far and away two, then Grasiole and Marshall kind of filling in where they can. And then now this year, it's much more even. I mean, there's four guys with intense snaps of each other with Dowell at 77 and then you've got even a Marquis Marshall and web all above 70 and then Simpson right behind them at 57. So like, this is

16:40a much more like split even group and the interesting part about that is like, it's not just like, oh, the young guys played a ton against UAPB and then like didn't play much after that. Like, Simpson didn't play that much against UAPB and Dowell did, but then Dowell was near the bottom of the against Kansas and then sprung up to be the top guy against Troy. So like, and Troy, yes, while we initially thought that was going to be a game where young guys going to get reps, I mean, it ended up being a close contest where like you said, Drink said, he's going to play the guys he felt given the best chance to win. So I think overall, like, you're just going to see a lot of situational rotations in this year's defensive tackle room and it's going to be more of like a replace McClellan and the aggregate and like a lot of that pass rush seems like it is going to be coming from, I mean, Dowell seems like he might already be the best pass rush around the interior there. So if that's what it comes down to and you feel like Dowell has, gives you the best chance to get some interior pressure there, then I think you could see a lot more Dowell going

17:41forward. Overall, I think having the pressure off the edges is going to be enough to where you're not like overly concerned about things, but right now like, yeah, you're probably looking at Simpson, Webb and Dowell is your pass rush guys. And then Mark Houston, Jalen Marshall, are you going to eat up the run? Yeah, finishing off our Troy, Troy takeaways, little non-conference takeaways as well. I think the secondary is something that we have to talk about. We have been harping on it. We've been talking about it quite a bit. We saw those two two 55 yard passes that were allowed a 55 yarder and then a 76, I believe. So Goose Crouter was was able to really get his in the first half. He had 190 plus yards in the first half. Then he only had about 30 to 40 in the second half. So we did just see a lot less of him attempting passes, which not exactly sure why that happened. I think the pressure was really good from Missouri's defensive line and that kind of made Goose Crouter want to go a little bit more to the run game, which also didn't work as they

18:45didn't score in that second half at all. But the two 55 yard passes are definitely still an area of concern. We haven't necessarily been overly impressed by the secondary. This season, I know after week two, we said this might be the weakest part of Missouri or the part that at least the positional group that at least needs to show the most. What are you thinking after Troy killing? Yeah, it's the position with most approve. And it's probably the one to be most concerned about as well. Like there's just been some issues that are very daunting and worry some as they transition into SEC play. I mean, these receivers are talented like TK keys is fast and Nick McMillan is awesome. But man, you're going to be facing guys better than both of those people almost every week. You've got Anthony Evans who's making a case to be one of the best receivers in the SEC. Like he's just on and that's just this week. Like they've got a lot to clean up between the tackling

19:46that has been somewhat of an issue for kind of all. I mean, Banner has missed some tackles. LaLaya has missed some tackles. Florence has missed some tackles. The penalties, I mean, you've seen Chris Gray's pick up some and then the lapses and coverage like Greco has been out of position a couple times. LaLaya has just not been turning his head when he should be. There's just a lot to clean up. It's not really just one specific thing that they need to get better at. There's just a lot going on. And they've been willing to acknowledge that both the staff and the players at these pressors and they've been saying like, yeah, it's got to clean up. But man, these explosives have been a problem for a while now in Missouri. As good as the defense has been the past and in 24 and 25 as good as the defense was like, it's really got to step up now. It's a new unit with a lot of new faces and they're transitioning into a real grueling part of the schedule. And man, if they keep giving up explosives, it's not going to be as easy to come back

20:47from as it is against Troy and Kansas. So really, you got to clean that up because you give the opportunities for explosives to Camario Taylor and Anthony Evans and his crew and they're going to convert on them routinely. So they've got to clean it up heading in the SEC play. Kind of no ifs and buts about it. It's like probably assuming special teams has kind of found its footing which it based off the second half in Kansas. And then the whole game against Troy kind of looks like it has. Then the secondary is definitely the main thing on hey, this has to be this has to get its act together. And if the secondary is struggling against Skylake Goose Cratter, it was a great G6 quarterback. You start to think you look at the schedule with a lot of really good quarterbacks. This Missouri is going to play. They're playing Arch Manning. They're going to play Trinidad Chamblest. They're going to play Gunnar Stockton. And then in this this upcoming game, they're going to play Camario Taylor who has already been one of the favorites for Heisman and has been

21:48absolutely exceptional. And we're going to we're about to get into that. We're going to go take a quick break. We went through the Troy takeaways when we come back. We're going to talk about Mississippi State. Preview that game and what Camario Taylor and the Cowbells are going to bring for the Tigers. Looking for tickets for your next event. Tickets for less is your number one source. Save big on every purchase when you use ProBokeau to KCSN at tickets for less dot com. David Starns Allstate Insurance is a proud partner of KC Sports Network serving the Kansas City area and all throughout the Midwest. If you are looking for new coverage or something that better suits your home, auto, health or any of your other insurance needs, give David his team a call. Elevate your coverage and be worry free with David Starns Allstate Insurance. From kick off to the final whistle trade the biggest moments of football on CalShi America's number one prediction market platform Denver is currently trading at 40% to upset Los Angeles, meaning a hundred dollars trade pays out $197 if they win. Download CalShi Use Code Hoops to get $25

22:51when you trade $25 KAL, SHI CalShi trade what's next 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risks and may not be suitable for our investors. CalShi products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, seek CalShi.com slash regulatory. Switch to mudflap but those other fuel carts just nail you with the fees. No, not mudflap. They don't have any fees. They'll monthly, annual, out of network, not a what I say I keep. That's what SUB. Mudflap has your back. Carriers like you save thousands per year with mudflap. Get $100 in pre-fuel credits after approval when you sign up at muddy.com slash podcast. Spelt MUDDY.com slash podcast. Terms of restrictions apply C mudflaping.com. Mudflap leak art is issued by Celtic Bank or Community Federal Savings Bank. At QVC, shopping is more than just checking out. It's discovering something new every day. Start with today's special value. Then explore exciting finds across the brands and categories

23:57you love. From beauty and fashion to home, culinary and outdoor living. Shop now at QVC.com. This January, Bear Nuckle Fighting Championship takes over the ocean. The inaugural Bruce Crew sells for Miami to the Bahamas aboard the Norwegian Jewel. Three straight days with pool deck bear nuckle fights in the Caribbean. Mess of parties. Beach events. DJs. Sugars. To kill the tastings and non-stop action. The lineup reveals coming soon. Cabins are disappearing fast and the prices won't stay this low. Reserve your spot with just $200 down at BKF S E A dot com. Welcome back into the All Things Mizzou podcast presented by David Starn's Agency All Things Mizzou, Mizzou KCSN and Mizzou on SI, Zack Knox Doyle, Killian Wright. We're going to get into the Mississippi State Preview Killian. You want to start us off with whatever you

24:59think is most important from this game. From the state perspective or from like what Missouri has to gain out of this. Let's start from the state perspective. Give the audience a little look at what Mississippi State is going to be presenting to Missouri. The favorite in this game recently ranked number 24 after a big win last week. Yeah, I mean, it's going to be Missouri's first ranked matchup of the year. First ranked matchup since falling to Oklahoma and Norman last year. And it'll be Drinkwood's first chance at a ranked win since 2024 week three against number 24 Boston College. So there's a lot riding on this one. You're going to have to go in a Starkville at night with the Cowbells which is not going to be an easy place to play. Certainly heading into the season we thought this matchup was going to be easier than definitely it seems now. I mean, I think I was kind of on the crew of chalking it up to Mizzou's going to start 4-0 and SEC play doesn't really start so Florida comes to town, but man was I wrong.

26:04This is going to be a tough game. There's some similarities between these teams I think, but overall like this is a big one for Mizzou. And it starts with how do you stop Kamario Taylor? Well, no one else has figured it out yet. At least in 2026. I mean, he's got A&T 32 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, the only one interception in the year. I mean, he's making a case like you said for the best quarterback in the SEC through the first few games here. He's really just kind of good at everything, man. Like he's mobile. He's got the dual threat thing. Like he's good at escaping pressure, but he can throw under it as well. He can kind of wall up and throw under pressure. Throws to all areas of the field. He's got a strong arm. There's not much to not like about Kamario Taylor. And so in Kamario Taylor, that's arguably, I mean, it's by far in a way the best quarterback Mizzou has played so far this year. And like I just touched on before break, the secondary being the weak point. I mean, this is like the last game you want almost on your

27:08schedule as like, man, our secondary has been struggling a little bit. Here comes Kamario Taylor and Anthony Evans and Mississippi State. Man, that's terrifying. So and I'm not saying Missouri is going to be scared. But overall, like this is going to be a really tough game to start. And Kamario Taylor is really the number one challenge. Yeah. Nick Rodriguez said in the press conference, he said he can do it all. And that's that's just very true. So far this season, there's got a 68 percent completion percentage, but the most impressive stats, 832 passing yards, 33 games, 180 rushing yards, 12 total touchdowns, and just one interception. Looking at that interception, it was not a great ball. It was overthrown, but it also was just a really good defensive play from South Carolina. They were able to tip it up to another player. It hit the hands of a Mississippi statewide receiver, definitely not on him at all. It was just really an outstanding defensive play. Was not a good ball. Was a big mistake. But what Dr.inc was talked about, the most impressive thing

28:08was how Taylor was able to respond to that. He responded with four passing touchdowns in that game, leading them to a huge comeback where they were down 16-0 at one point. And they were able to come on the road. South Carolina looked like a sold out crowd or at least very close, very loud. Take a huge 41 to 34 victory where I mean, Mississippi State's offense had to do a lot. When you're giving up 34 points, you're giving up that I mean, playing a really good quarterback in the North sellers as well, that offense, there was a lot of pressure on them. And they certainly, they started off slow and being able to respond to that, being able to still come out and score 41 points when you throw an interception on the first drive. When I think they were scoreless in the first quarter or at least close to or at least like the majority of the first quarter, I'm just very impressed by this offense as a whole. It starts with Taylor. And then that goes on to the White receivers. This is a very deep White receiver. You have Anthony Evans, the guy that you talked about already. He said 20 receptions, 294 yards, three touchdowns. They got three guys that

29:12three receiving touchdowns already. Zion Roggins has eight receptions, 159 yards, three touchdowns. He's only five eight, just an absolute speedster. Then you have San Francisco, Margie, who has 10 receptions, 132 yards, three touchdowns as well. And a big storyline for this game, Marquis Johnson, as 136 yards on the season guy has first touchdown last week. So you've got four receivers that are averaging nearly 50 yards per game. And it looks like a really deep room. And I think part of that is because Camaro Taylor has really good vision and can find a lot of wider receivers. But it's going to be a it's going to be a big task for Missouri. When Marquis Johnson actually also scored against VMI, I will say that. Oh, yeah, he did. There's something weird going on with the statistics on Marquis Johnson. Yeah. I actually did notice the ESPN website for the Marquis Johnson statistics was like completely bugging out. But anyway, yeah. It's going to be a big challenge from Missouri. And you mentioned that slow start that state got off to its interesting because,

30:14I mean, Missouri has had some slow starts to start the game. So you're kind of in a it's a the tortoise and the tortoise here. I don't know which is going to win the race. But tortoise and the tortoise. They both kind of like to get off the slow starts. At least against formidable teams. And so with that, I think it I don't know. I think my key though overall is and you saw this in the South Carolina game like keep the ball out of Camaro Taylor's hands. Like like you said, like state didn't have the ball much in the first half. When South Carolina built up to that 16 O lead. And that's going to be the key. Like we saw Troy do that to Mizzou last week where it's wow Austin Simmons like the he can't even do in the field can't even establish a rhythm like it's Mizzou struggling to even kind of garner anything here because Troy is going in these long drives and just holding the ball. I mean, that's kind of what South Carolina was doing to state their first drive 13 plays 66 yards seven and a half or almost eight minutes. And then

31:19state there was an interception on the first play of their drive. And then a two minute drive which scarves scored because they're in the red zone there. And then a 60 yard drive for three and a half minutes again. So through the first quarter state had the ball less than a minute. And you go on down there South Carolina's next offensive drive was 11 plays three and a half minutes. So it's just trying to find a way to keep the ball out of Camaro Taylor's hands because I mean, as soon as he gets it, he can kind of strike at any time. Like he does have these like long touchdowns that he's capable of. He's got like the states first two touchdown drives were both. It was 51 seconds and a minute and 12. And both were over 68 yards. So you've got to keep the ball out of his hands because clearly the more opportunities to give him the more he'll make you pay. And so if you can kind of keep it away from him, that's probably the ideal situation here. Easier said than done, but the state defense does have some weak points at Mizu. If they look how they did, if you kind of

32:22combine the run game from Troy and combine the fast game from the first two weeks. And I hope the special team is all right. Mizu does kind of have an ability to pick on some weaknesses for state here. Yeah, I think they certainly do. And right before I get into that, I would just like to mention that state can also run the ball really well. Taylor's had 180 rushing yards and then fluff. Bothwell has been really good. Returner. He said 48 rushes for 280 yards, two scores already. So he has been very strong. This is just a dynamic state offense. You want to keep the ball out of Taylor's hands, but also Bothwell is really good. So you really just don't want to see them on offense as long as you can stretch out your drives. If you're Mizu, that's what you want to do. And that's what they really struggled with against Troy. So that's going to have to turn around in this game, but now looking at Missouri or the defensive end from Mississippi state. The quarterbacks have thrown for 279 yards and 282 yards in two weeks against power for

33:24opponents. That's Minnesota and South Carolina to well-established quarterbacks to very good quarterbacks. And then the only interceptions that the secondary forced were last week against sellers. And after looking at them, obviously sellers is a very good quarterback, but they were too simply just underthrown passers. They were not very good passes. It was really bad. That's not to take away anything from the secondary and interception is an interception, but man, those were not good passes. And I think the secondary is a relative weak point of this team. Obviously, the offense is a lot better than their defense. And that is why I think it's pretty plausible for Missouri to win the time of possession in this game. What do you think about that, Kylian? I mean, yeah, I think the secondary isn't necessarily great. Obviously, Kelly Jones is awesome. He hasn't quite looked the exact same this year, but overall, he's still pretty great

34:30on the boundary there. He does pretty exclusively straight to that right side, which is interesting. His Missouri is obviously going to shift around their receiver. So he'll be guarding a little bit of everybody, but really, it's probably just like, hey, let's look at whoever Kelly Jones isn't guarding. Not to say that Jones will completely negate whoever his match up is, but throwing away from Jones is easier to throw in toward him. So overall, yeah, I think Missouri can kind of, I don't envision Austin Simmons making passes as Aaron as some of those ones that sellers was. If he does, that's a little more reminiscent of the Simmons we saw on the Ole Miss tape last year, rather than the Simmons that we've seen against Kansas and Pinebluff. I think you're still going to be able to see some tight window throws from Simmons. I think he'll kind of revitalize it, because on the state defense, just overall, yeah, like they're giving up consistent yards. When Simmons has had over 250 yards in his first two games, then state is giving up over 280 yards to

35:33both their P4 quarterback opponents. I would be pretty surprised if you're going in there and seeing and not great Austin Simmons performance. I think this is a bounce back weight in the happen. I think the state defense has kind of proven that it's not the strong suit of the team. I mean, you got to score a ton of points to beat state. They've scored 38 or more in every game. It's really just getting that shoot out. If your team has always been shootouts, it's hard to make much claim to your secondary. With that being said, I think it's going to be important to look at more than just Austin Simmons' stats from this game, because I could see him having 200 yards. I'll explain in a second 200 yards in this game and still having a really good game. Just because what I looked at in the South Carolina game is their pressure and the run was very mediocre. Sellers was given a lot of time.

36:34I think that did lead to a lot of him being able to air it out, which did kind of lead to those interceptions. I think the run game was able to succeed. It had about four yards per carry. That's including the three sacks. Without those sacks, they were going for about five of pop consistently, not getting touched until they were definitely passed the line of scrimmage a lot of times. So I think that's something really important that Missouri might look to go to Roberts quite a bit if they're seeing consistent success. I mean, we know these Mizzou football teams love to do this. So I would expect a relatively balanced attack from this Missouri offense. And I think that's also what's going to lead to them winning the time of possession in this game. So with that being said, we could see Roberts have just a monster game in this one, maybe have 150 yards. I know that's kind of crazy, but he has been showing that he's getting a lot of touches consistently. He's getting over 20 touches a game. If he has a breakout, a breakout run like you did against Kansas.

37:36And last week, you didn't even have a breakout run. He still had 128 yards. So he could go and get just a lot of yardage, which could lead to civance throwing for about 200, 250. I think he'll be around around that level. But if he's not thrown in receptions, staying calm and poised like we've seen from him throughout the course of the season, we have no reason to believe that he's going to throw takeaways except for last season's tape. But you just look at this season, he looks very collected. I think that's a really strong thing to have against Mississippi State and really makes me a lot more confidence in this Missouri offense. Yeah. On the Roberts note, I think, yeah, they definitely, if they're trying to play the time of possession game, which I imagine they will, it's going to be a lot more shorter routes and targets for Simmons and his receivers. And then maybe they're probably telling him be a little bit more willing to take the underneath and to take the outs, the quick outs and the flats, whether it's Na Sean, who's in there a lot or

38:39Sean Terry sometimes or Brett Norfolk, who's in that range a lot, or even hitting Jamal Roberts, who's I Sean Edwards on a out of the bat field. I think there's a lot more of that in the past game. And then from the rushing perspective, I do think it's interesting. Zeyeshawn seemed like he was getting used a lot more at the second half of the Pine Bluff game after Fernody went down. It was like, okay, Zeyeshawn's here. And then in the Kansas game, even Zeyeshawn seemed like he was getting used to relatively go him out. But yesterday or not yesterday, excuse me, against Troy, it was just kind of the Jamal Roberts show. I mean, like how many, Edwards definitely had less than five touches in the game. I need to check right now. And then what's the reading? This, yeah, I believe you have three carries. Drinkwood's had an emphasis on, hey, like we need to get, okay, yeah, Zeyeshawn had three carries for no yards and he had no receptions. And drinkwood's said, hey, like we need to get Zeyeshawn involved. But then he also said Zeyeshawn's to prove and

39:42practice that he can be involved. And so I'm a little curious as to what's going on there because from my perspective, like it seemed like in the Kansas game, he had proved that he could be involved. Like what's he great against Troy? Like no, if he had three carries, no yards, but overall, I guess something that changed in practice maybe, but I don't know. I do think if it's going to be a time-up possession one where Missouri is trying to hold on to the ball as much as they can, then like there's only so you can only go to Robert so much before like he's going to get worn down. Like obviously he's done a pretty good job handling this heavier burden this season as far as his work load. Like he's had career highs and carries like each of the past like two games where he's just running a ton and they're just going to him. He had 28 against Kansas and then 22 against Troy, which both are higher than any amount he had last year or for his entire collegiate career. But I think if you're going to try and maybe run closer to that 30 total mark that they did against

40:44Kansas, like you're going to have to get zashon a little more involved. Otherwise, like Jamal's just going to break down at some point. Like you can only go to him so much. So I think it'll work though. Obviously I would also expect a big game from Jamal Roberts. I'm just kind of expecting a big game from everyone on both offenses because that's how both these teams seem to be operating, at least for the most part through the first couple of weeks. I think you're going to get a shootout. We talked about it on the Mizu that's who pod. But this could very well be a game where it's it goes down to whoever has the ball last, which didn't really feel like that a lot of times last year where it felt like Mizu could get the ball and then just three and out right away. And so I think it's really just going to be high scoring. And if you're having these errors where it's a unforced errors, whether it's on special teams, if some like kick block stuff happens again, or it's just kind of miscommunications between quarterbacks and receivers or penalties, it's like

41:46those are going to make you pay because you really got to get points on every drive this game and and really move the ball and make sure you're getting into deep and state territory every time. Yeah. And I think that's very fair and kind of my to like big takeaways of how Mizu could be Mississippi state in this game is one I already said, committing to both the Pase and the Runness. We've kind of been talking about these last five minutes. Steam does not really specialize in either defensively. Sure, they have some some standout defensive players. Like you said, mentioned by Drinkwoods, Kelly Jones, Isaac Smith, the FSU transfer Amari Williams, the defense event seems like a really a really strong player that has stood out early in this in this season. But I think that's one of the big takeaways is you just have to stay versatile on offense and then looking at the defensive end, Taylor shown off his arm through through through weeks. I think in every game, he's had at least a pass of at least 39 yards. So he's willing to air it out. He makes these really,

42:49really fast decisions. And I mean, his throwing mechanics are just nuts. The way he he throws it so fast, it's just it's a quick rocket. And I think Missouri secondary is going to going to have to focus on you're not going to completely stop Taylor when he's on the field. He's going to get his to a certain extent, but you cannot give up these big throws that you've given up throughout the course of the season. That gave Troy a 10 0 lead. That was that was what made Troy a really a formidable opponent. When you go and you play Mississippi State, you give up to 55 yard bombs. You're probably looking at a loss to keep it blunt. I mean that that likely cannot happen with Camario Taylor. And I'm wondering what the secondary can do to clean that up. I know drink with said that some of it is his coaching. I think LaLana needs to work on being able to look back. Florence's coverage has been really solid tackling is a bit of a different story, but Florence's look good.

43:53I think banners going to need to clean it up. But he definitely did clean it up. He had that that 76 yard reception was kind of on his coverage lacking. And then he went out and got 15 total tackles in the game. So I'm feeling more confident about about this secondary, but they still have so, so much to prove. And this first test is going to be against Camario Taylor. Something to prove. I think T muddle. I think it's less of I think there's a good chance Camario Taylor just gets those explosives anyway. I think there's a world where state gets those explosives and Mizou still wins because it's just more of like, okay, because I mean, because you see like against South Carolina, like the first two touchdown drives are less than five plays. So like he really can just go get it from out of nowhere. It's more of just like how long can we keep it out of his hands? How long can Missouri hold the ball and keep it away from Camario Taylor? If he's going to get his explosives on every

44:56drive, sure, but let's see if they can take nine minutes for every driver. That's obviously lofty, but if you can average, you can have a couple who are a couple drives that are above that seven, eight minute range. Like that would be huge. So really just a lot of you don't have to really fight fire with fire with this. Like, is there going to be a time when Missouri needs an explosive? Like, yes, it will at some point. But overall, it's a lot more just can we put out the fire that state is because I think state's fire is is maybe a little bit more blazing the Mizou. So I just think you got to be careful with things like that and make sure you're not playing states game. But overall, yeah, I'll say it again, going to be a high scoring affair, going to be an interesting environment night game in Starkville, Calbell record. I mean, this is the most attention that's been on Mississippi state in years between Camario and the rest of the offense. Like there's going to be a good amount of eyes on this game. And it's going to be an important one for Mizou to win.

45:59Not just because of the ranking and just to say they can get a ranked win, but also to prove like they're ready for the rest. Yes, you see, and that they're they've kind of patched up some of these woes and see what's going on because like as fun and as promising state looks, like there are going to be better opponents on Missouri scheduled and then Mississippi state. So if you struggle and lose to state by chance, like that's not to say the season's over, but the outlook gets a lot more grand. So I think overall huge game for Missouri and equally as big game for Mississippi state, although state is favored, it almost feels like there's more pressure on Missouri to win this game, which is interesting kind of a weird dynamic there, but overall, it'll be a fun one. Yeah, as you've mentioned, two big tests for both of these teams, and you've been saying a high scoring affair, are you ready to give your score prediction, kill it? Oh man. Is there is there anything else from Mississippi state we need to bring up before

47:01going into the score prediction? I feel like we might we might we like you're ready. We can fire off the score predictions. I'm gonna start us off. So oh man, I think it's gonna be close. I think it's gonna be close. And all week, logic has been telling me like to pick state, but there has like truly there has been a gut feeling that I've got that's just been kind of a little voice in my head being like, but Missouri though. Like everyone's everyone's picking state. This is a Zag. This is where you pick Missouri. This is a classic Zag. And so I'm kind of tempted to. And that's been my thought process on this is like, yeah, state strengths are kind of scary for Missouri's weaknesses right now. But do I do I think Missouri can maybe just out talent state? Maybe the moments too big for state? Not to say that Mizzou has been excellent and great moments the past few seasons, but they've had more experience in big moments than state has. I mean, this is the most like I said, the most attention that is there's been a state game of wild. I think I'm still gonna have to pick state though,

48:06all that said. I don't think I should be trusting a gut feeling. I don't think I should be trusting that old nagging voice that's saying, hey, but what about Missouri though? I think I will go with state. And I think it'll be a close one for the record. I think we're looking at probably. I feel pretty solid. This is a number that's been sticking out to me. I think Missouri's defense, although not great, is definitely better than South Carolina and Minnesota. I think you're probably looking at 37 34 Mississippi state and and all log that is my final score prediction. I think it's gonna be close. I think it'll be real close. That's a dog fight, a bulldog fight if you will. I've been pretty torn as well. I know we've been conversing a little bit about who we're gonna, you really put me on a roller coaster there. I thought you were gonna I thought you're gonna switch off Goat Mizzou and then you're like, yeah, all that means that we're still going to miss the be stay. But I obviously am usually a little bit more confident in this Missouri team,

49:13which so far has not necessarily aged well. I think I said last week was gonna be 52 to 17. I got the 17 right. 52 was certainly not right. This week, I'm gonna go with Missouri. I think it's tricky because I think Taylor is possibly, I think he's the second best quarterback in the SEC beside behind Trinidad Chameless. We're gonna have to see as the season progresses, maybe archmaning continues to elevate his play. But just looking at a straight talent perspective, he could be the most talented quarterback in the SEC just because he's only a sophomore. But since he's only a sophomore, we saw him make a big mistake last week. I think he's gonna have I think he's still gonna have a really good game. Probably throw for three touchdowns. I think he's gonna have one big interception. It's not gonna be at the start of the game. It's gonna be in the second half where it matters a lot more. And I think Missouri's secondary is gonna show that they're they're improving. There's still gonna be a lot of room for improvement. I see one deep ball coming in from Taylor. But besides that,

50:18I think the the secondary kind of makes that a little bit better. It seems like a really high point of emphasis based on the press conferences, just based on what we've seen from them so far. And Austin Simmons is gonna be looking to have a big bounce back game. I feel really confident in the versatility of this offense. It just feels like this Missouri team overall offense and defense, everything combined. They are just the more talented squad. And Mississippi State has these players that jump out to you. They have Camario Taylor. They have Anthony Evans. They have they have guys like that that jump out. But as a whole unit, especially on the defensive end, I don't feel very confident. And it feels like Missouri has just a lot more talented or a lot more talent just dispersed across the team. And that's why I'm gonna go with them here. I also have a high scoring affair. I think it's gonna be a little bit less than Mississippi State has been scoring in the past. We're gonna go 34-28

51:22Missouri. So I think State isn't quite a successful in offense maybe because of that that interception that I predicted and just because they're gonna be playing a more formidable defense. So we've got Missouri on top. We both have games within a touchdown, which I think is where a lot of people are expecting this game to be. Should be a really fun back and forth game. You got any closing thoughts, Killian, before we finish this off. No, I mean, it's, yeah, I think it'll be tough. Missouri has kind of struggled on the road the past years, especially against ranked teams. That's they've struggled against explosives. Um, struggled against elite quarterbacks. That's exactly what State presents to you. So it's it's almost like a kryptonite situation here. Missouri is gonna have to play a safe game. Keep the ball out of State's hands, capitalize on those takeaways that you predicted. And I think they'll probably get a takeaway as well. But really just capitalize on it. See if you can kind of prevent Taylor from exploding and using that

52:24star power of his and hopefully you walk out of Starkville with the win and you're undefeated heading into homecoming if you're a Mizzou. Yeah, that's all we've got. We will be at the Mississippi State Contest. Boots on the ground is Killian likes to say. So we will, we will be there. Lots of coverage on Twitter, Facebook, stay tuned for that. Our website, Missouri on SI. We're going to have lots of articles coming out before the contest during the contest after the contest. Make sure to stay locked in with us on all of that coverage. That's all we've got for you here. Game is at 645 on Saturday against Mississippi State. Thank you for watching the All Thames Zoo podcast. It's been Killian right. And I'm Zach Knox Doyle saying so long. From kick off to the final whistle trade, the biggest moments of football on CalShi America's number one prediction market platform Denver is currently trading at 40% to upset Los Angeles, meaning $100 trade pays out $197 if they win. Download CalShi use code Hoops to get $25 when you trade $25 KAL SHI CalShi trade what's next 18 plus

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