Auburn Tigers vs. Missouri Tigers Pick & Prediction OCTOBER 19th 2024
Preview and Prediction
Auburn coach Hugh Freeze views Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz as one of his closest confidants in the Southeastern Conference.
However, they will set aside their friendship when No. 19 Missouri (5-1, 1-1) hosts Auburn (2-4, 0-3) on Saturday afternoon in Columbia, Mo.
"I'm not sure when our friendship began, but it developed naturally," Freeze stated. "I believe we share a similar mindset when it comes to coaching and the bigger picture of impacting others, which is just as important as wins and losses although it can be challenging to maintain."
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Missouri is striving to re-enter the College Football Playoff conversation after dominating UMass with a 45-3 victory last week. Tigers quarterback Brady Cook completed 14 of 19 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns.
Drinkwitz expressed his desire to focus on his team's passing game in the third quarter, but receiver Josh Manning's 63-yard catch-and-run play on the first series changed his plans.
"I got on the headsets and told the offensive staff that we weren't going to run the ball again," Drinkwitz explained. "I wanted to see us develop some chemistry and continuity in the passing game. I didn't expect us to score on the first play, which was great, but also disappointing because we wanted to continue working out the kinks."
Overall this season, Cook has completed 119 of 184 passes for 1,351 yards and seven touchdowns. He has also rushed for 124 yards and four touchdowns.
The team's leading rusher, Nate Noel (471 yards, 6.0 average, two touchdowns), sat out against the Minutemen due to a stiff back, but he is expected to return for Saturday's game.
Top receiving target Luther Burden III (488 yards from scrimmage, six total touchdowns) left the UMass game in the third quarter with a shoulder injury, but he is likely to play against Auburn.
Drinkwitz also mentioned that he anticipates linebacker Triston Newson to return this week, but defensive end Joe Moore III and linebacker Khalil Jacobs will miss the remainder of the season due to injuries.
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During the bye week leading up to this game, Freeze took Auburn back to the basics. The team's most recent game was a 31-13 loss to then-No. 5 Georgia on Oct. 5.
"What is our identity?" he questioned. "And let's try to execute it in different ways. But we probably don't need more. Let's do less and do it better."
Auburn has experienced a variety of breakdowns in crucial game situations during their three-game losing streak. Freeze hopes the extra week of practice will help clean up those issues as his team aims for bowl eligibility.
"If we have a critical down, it will be extremely disheartening and infuriating if we have another situation where our players don't have a clear understanding of what needs to happen," Freeze emphasized.
Auburn's offense features explosive running back Jarquez Hunter, who has rushed for 528 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 6.8 yards per carry. Freeze believes the team needs to give him more opportunities.
"It's frustrating when some of our short-yardage plays are called, and he doesn't even get a touch because they weren't executed at a high enough level," Freeze stated. "We need to fix that."
Thorne has completed 77 of 129 passes for 1,238 yards and 10 touchdowns, but he has also thrown six interceptions and been sacked 12 times.