COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri football continues its four-game home stand Saturday when the Tigers welcome the University at Buffalo Bulls to Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast live on the SEC Network+.
Under fifth-year head coach Eliah Drinkwitz, the Tigers are looking for their second consecutive 2-0 start after turning in their first shutout since 2020 last Thursday following their 51-0 season-opening win over Murray State.
The Tigers and Bulls will meet for the second time Saturday, with Mizzou notching a 42-21 home victory in the first match-up of the two programs on Sept. 20, 2008. Chase Daniel completed 36-of-43 passes for 439 yards and a pair of touchdowns to power the Tigers’ attack. Jeremy Maclin (14 receptions) and Chase Coffman (10) combined for 24 catches, as Mizzou seized control of a tight contest by scoring 15 unanswered points to end the game.
Entering the second week of the season, the Tigers secured the No. 9 position in the Associated Press poll, marking their highest Week 2 ranking since coming in at the No. 6 spot in 2008. Additionally, Mizzou is slotted as the No. 10 team nationally this week according to the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Saturday’s SEC Network+ broadcast will feature Lowell Galindo and Fozzy Whittaker on the call. SEC Network+ is complementary to SEC Network and accessible with your TV provider credentials. It can be accessed through the ESPN App on smartphones, tablets, connected streaming devices or via espn.com/watch. The game can also be heard on the Tiger Radio Network from LEARFIELD through the Varsity Network mobile app and Sirius XM channel 81.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Buffalo (1-0) at [9/10] Missouri (1-0)
Saturday, September 7, 2024 • 6 p.m. CT
Columbia, Mo. • Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium (62,621)
TELEVISION • SECN+
RADIO • Tiger Radio Network from LEARFIELD
GAME NOTES • Missouri Notes • Buffalo Notes
LIVE STATS • MUTigers.com
TWITTER • @MizzouFootball
GAME NOTES
Mizzou has won 17 straight non-conference games at Memorial Stadium, dating back to Oct. 21, 2017.
A victory over Buffalo would match the Tigers’ all-time longest non-conference home win streak of 18-straight victories achieved from Sept. 17, 2005 – Nov. 17, 2012.
In permitting just 85 yards of total offense against Murray State, Mizzou allowed its lowest single-game total since Sept. 17, 2011 when the Tigers gave up just 44 yards of offense in a 69-0 win over Western Illinois. Because of this feat, the Tigers ranks first nationally in total defense.
Brady Cook became just the sixth Mizzou quarterback to top the 1,000-yard mark for career rushing in last Thursday’s win, recording four carries for 22 yards and a touchdown.
Cook and backup QB Drew Pyne combined to total 300 yards through the air vs. Murray State, while connecting with 11 different receivers – the most by the Tigers since 2021 when they targeted 12 vs. Southeast Missouri.
LAST TIME OUT – MURRAY STATE
The 11th-ranked University of Missouri football team shut out Murray State in the season opener for both teams on Thursday, Aug. 29, cruising to a 51-0 victory in front of a sold-out crowd on Faurot Field.
The victory marked Mizzou’s 17th consecutive home win against a non-conference opponent and the Tigers’ 24th season-opening win in the last 28 years.
Additionally, it was Missouri’s first shutout since a 41-0 home victory over Vanderbilt in 2020 and first season-opening blanking since defeating Bowling Green, 37-0, in 1998.
The Tigers scored four touchdowns in the first 12 minutes of the game, earning an early 28-0 lead.
Mizzou outgained the Racers 489-85 and had a 30-5 edge in first downs.
Murray State ran just one play from scrimmage on the Tigers’ side of the 50-yard line.
The last time a Mizzou team held an opponent under 100 yards of total offense was in 2019 when it limited Southeast Missouri to just 94 yards.
D-R-D…THE NEXT EPISODE
Mizzou’s dominant opening night victory over Murray State featured a number of highlights, but none more impressive than the shutdown effort by its defense.
The newest edition of the Tigers’ ‘Death Row Defense’ picked up where last year’s unit left off, pitching MU’s first shutout in four years.
The Tigers have not allowed a touchdown over their last eight quarters — a span of 125 minutes dating back to the fourth quarter of their Nov. 24, 2023 game at Arkansas.
Mizzou allowed just 27 yards passing (7-of-15), marking the fewest yards by an opponent since 2011 vs. Western Illinois (20 yards).
The Tigers also permitted just five first downs in the victory over Murray State – their fewest allowed since the same Western Illinois game in 2011.
MU allowed just 85 yards of offense to lead all of FBS in total defense and enters Week 2 with the nation’s top red zone, pass efficiency and scoring defense as well.
A FINE HOW-DO-YOU-DO
Mizzou improved to 88-42-5 in season openers with its win over Murray State.
The Tigers topped the 50-point plateau for the fourth time in their last eight season openers.
Thirty Tigers saw their first game action in black and gold last week, including six combined offensive and defensive starters: DE Zion Young, DT Chris McClellan, CB Toriano Pride Jr. on the defensive side of the ball, and RB Nate Noel, LT Marcus Bryant and LG Cayden Green on offense.
Additionally, K Blake Craig converted 3-of-3 field goal attempts and 6-of-6 PAT tries in his first start.
Pride, a junior transfer from Clemson, made an immediate impact in the contest, returning an interception 25 yards for a touchdown to give the Tigers a 21-0 lead less than six minutes into the game.
Mizzou’s three touchdowns in the first 5:19 represents the fastest the Tigers have ever scored 21 points to open a contest, surpassing a Sept. 1, 2012 start vs. Southeastern Louisiana (7:25).
Additionally, 11 different MU receivers registered a catch — the most in a game by the Tigers since 2021.
CREATING CHAOS
One of the pillars on which the ‘Death Row Defense’ has been structured is the Tigers’ ability to create havoc on opposing offenses.
Last year, this was evidenced in Mizzou’s 19 takeaways and 0.77 turnover margin, figures that ranked first and second in the SEC, respectively.
DE Johnny Walker Jr. epitomized the disruptive identity of the MU defense in the Tigers’ Cotton Bowl victory over No. 7 Ohio State, registering a critical second-quarter strip-sack and 1.5 total TFLs to earn the game’s defensive MVP honor.
Walker recorded 43 tackles for the season, including a team-leading 9.0 QB hurries, 9.5 TFLs and 5.0 sacks.
LB Triston Newson added 7.0 tackles for losses, as well as two fumble recoveries to lead the SEC; Newson and fellow LB Chuck Hicks will anchor the Tigers’ linebacker corps after combining for 104 tackles a year ago.
DEFENSIVE/SPECIAL TEAMS QUICK HITS
Ty’Ron Hopper (third round, Green Bay) became the first Mizzou linebacker to be selected in the NFL Draft since two-time Super Bowl Champion Nick Bolton went in the second round of the 2021 draft to Kansas City; he joins Bolton, Zavier Gooden (2013, third round, Tennessee) and Sean Witherspoon (2010, first round, Atlanta) as the only MU linebackers to be selected in the top three rounds of the draft.
MU’s returning cast of defenders brought a combined total of 195 career starts into the 2024 season.
The Tigers didn’t allow a rushing touchdown until week five of the 2023 season and permitted just eight for the entire season.
MU returns 54.2-percent of the defense’s total tackles from a year ago, including 63.6-percent of its TFLs.
After forcing just eight turnovers over its first eight games last season, the Mizzou defense logged 11 takeaways over its final four contests; coupled with two takeaways in their opener with Murray State last week, the Tigers have now racked up 13 takeaways in their last five games.
Against Arkansas (Nov. 25), the Tigers forced six fumbles and recovered five, marking a 2023 season high for takeaways. The five recoveries represented their top single-game total since at least 2000.
S Joseph Charleston brings a streak of 26 consecutive starts into Thursday’s game; that string is tied for second-longest on the team, trailing only QB Brady Cook’s 28 straight starts.
DL Kristian Williams was named to the preseason watch list for the 2024 Allstate Wuerffel Trophy, which honors the student-athlete’s commitment to community service; a co-captain, Williams logged 25 tackles and 5.0 TFLs last fall.
Mizzou returns only one letterwinner, P Luke Bauer, among its primary specialists this fall; Bauer punted 22 times for an average of 41.9 yards last fall and completed a critical 39-yard TD pass to Marquis Johnson to propel the Tigers to a 38-21 comeback win at Kentucky.
Bauer averaged 48.5 yards on two punts in the opener vs. Murray State, dropping one of those inside the 20-yard line.
K Blake Craig tallied 15 points in his debut game as Mizzou’s primary place-kicker; the redshirt freshman became the first Tiger not named Harrison Mevis to attempt (and convert) a field goal attempt since Tucker McCann on Nov. 29, 2019.
