COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri football takes aim at a second consecutive unbeaten non-conference season Saturday, when the No. 21/18 Tigers travel to Amherst, Massachusetts, to meet the UMass Minutemen at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast live on the ESPN2 and Tiger Radio Network.
Saturday’s matchup will mark the first meeting between the Tigers and Minutemen.
Missouri has won at least four of its first five games for the second-straight year and the sixth time in the last 12 seasons.
Saturday’s ESPN2 broadcast will feature Roy Philpott, Sam Acho, and Taylor Davis on the call. The game can also be heard on the Tiger Radio Network from LEARFIELD through the Varsity Network mobile app and Sirius XM channel 82.
HOW TO FOLLOW
[21] Missouri (4-1) at Massachusetts (1-5)
Saturday, October 12, 2024 • 11 a.m. CT
Amherst, Mass. • McGuirk Alumni Stadium (17,000)
TELEVISION • ESPN2
RADIO • Tiger Radio Network from LEARFIELD
GAME NOTES • Missouri Notes • UMass Notes
LIVE STATS • UMassAthletics.com
TWITTER • @MizzouFootball
INTERVIEWS • Coach Drinkwitz Weekly Press Conference | LB Corey Flagg Jr. Pre-Practice Interview | C Connor Tollison Pre-Practice Interview
GAME NOTES
Mizzou is riding a string of 18 consecutive weeks ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, marking its longest such streak in a decade.
MU will be looking to bounce back from a 41-10 SEC loss at No. 25 Texas A&M (Oct. 5) that ended the Tigers’ eight-game win streak which was the longest unbeaten stretch since 1960 and matched the second-longest streak in program history.
Mizzou’s defense ranks 15th in the nation in total defense (277.6 ypg) and 11th in passing defense (157.0 ypg).
MU’s offense has converted 20-of-21 (.952) red zone opportunities into points this season, ranking 13th nationally and third in the SEC; the Tigers have scored on 76-of-79 (.962) trips overall since the start of the 2023 season.
QB Brady Cook (7,610) ranks fourth on the Tigers’ all-time passing yardage list and fifth on MU’s career touchdown passes chart (43); he enters Saturday’s game 1,189 yards behind Brad Smith for the No. 3 spot and eight TD tosses shy of James Franklin in the No. 4 position, respectively, on the two charts.
WR Theo Wease Jr. recorded a pair of catches for 72 yards at Texas A&M to become the 47th player in school history to top the 1,000-yard receiving plateau for a career; he teamed up with Cook on the Tigers’ lone touchdown of the game — a 59-yard strike that marked Mizzou’s longest passing scoring since the duo teamed up on a 77-yard TD toss vs. Florida on Nov. 18, 2023.
WR Luther Burden III recorded game highs with seven receptions for 82 yards last week at No. 25 Texas A&M, extending his streak of games with at least one catch to 27 in a row, dating back to Oct. 1, 2022. Burden III ran his career total to 1,926 receiving yards, leaving the junior just 74 yards away from becoming the 12th Tiger receiver to top the 2,000-yard mark.
RB Nate Noel has led Mizzou in rushing in each of its five games to open the 2024 season; the graduate student transfer ranks fourth among all active NCAA FBS backs with 3,545 career rushing yards, including a career-best 199-yard effort vs. Vanderbilt (Sept. 21).
TIGERS DOMINANT IN NON-CONFERENCE
Missouri brings a nine-game non-conference win streak into Saturday’s game, dating back to Sept. 17, 2022.
Saturday’s game will mark the Tigers’ first true road contest during its current non-conference win streak.
Under head coach Eliah Drinkwitz, the Tigers are 13-2 overall in non-conference action.
Despite its dominance at Memorial Stadium in non-conference play, Mizzou has dropped its last two non-SEC road games, including a Sept. 10, 2022 loss at Kansas State and an Aug. 31, 2019 setback at Wyoming.
The Tigers’ last non-conference road win came at Purdue (40-37) on Sept. 15, 2018.
Mizzou is 70-90-8 in road non-conference play.
PROTECTING THE ROCK
The Tigers’ 4-1 start has been made possible by an offense that has not only controlled the time of possession in four of its five outings, but has also limited turnovers to just two giveaways to date.
Mizzou leads the SEC and ranks 10th nationally in time of possession, controlling the ball for an average of 33:27 through its first five games.
Additionally, the Tigers have turned the ball over just two times — one fumble in their season opener vs. Murray State (Aug. 29) and one interception in game two vs. Buffalo (Sept. 7).
MU has not committed a turnover in any of its last three contests, spanning more than 13 full quarters (plus two overtime periods vs. Vanderbilt).
QB Brady Cook, who set an SEC record for consecutive pass attempts without throwing an interception (365) last fall, brings an active string of 116 straight pass attempts since his lone pick of the season in the third quarter of the Tigers’ matchup vs. Buffalo.
For the season, the Tigers are tied for fourth nationally with two turnovers, ranking fourth among all FBS teams with one INT and sixth nationally with one fumble lost.
NEXT UP, NOEL
Despite the loss of 2023 NCAA FBS rushing leader Cody Schrader due to graduation, the Tigers’ ground game has picked up right where it left off last fall, averaging 178.8 yards per game through the first five contests of the season.
MU ranks 54th nationally in rushing yards per game, led by RB Nate Noel‘s 94.2 ypg average (which ranks 29th nationally).
Noel has paced the Tigers’ rushing attack in all five games this season, including back-to-back 100-yard outings vs. Boston College and Vanderbilt.
Noel earned SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week recognition on Sept. 23, following his career-best 199-yard effort in the Tigers’ win over Vandy.
In that contest, Noel tallied the most rushing yards by an SEC running back this season, including a 64-yard run that represented the longest rush by a Tiger in three years.
The 199-yard performance marked Noel’s 16th 100-yard game in 48 career contests; the Miami native also topped the 3,500-yard plateau for his career in the win over Vanderbilt.
Noel enters Saturday’s game fourth among all active FBS rushers in terms of career yards (3,545) and 12th in all-purpose yards (3,862).
COOKIN’ UP A WINNER
QB Brady Cook opened the 2024 season with four-straight 200-yard passing performances, running his MU career total to 23 games of 200 yards or more.
He trails only Chase Daniel (38) and Drew Lock (34) on the Tigers’ career leaderboard for 200-yard games.
With his 226-yard day vs. Vanderbilt (Sept. 21), Cook extended his home streak of 200-yard passing efforts to 10 in a row on Faurot Field (dating back to Sept. 16, 2023 vs. Kansas State).
Cook (8,704) became just the fifth Mizzou QB to top the 8,000-yard mark for total offense Sept. 7 vs. Buffalo, logging a season-high 290 total yards; he surpassed James Franklin (8,691) for the No. 4 spot on the Tigers’ career chart for total offense last weekend at No. 25 Texas A&M.
The St. Louis native topped the 1,000-yard rushing milestone in the 2024 season opener, becoming just the sixth MU quarterback to do so; he also became just the second QB in program history to pass for 7,000 yards and rush for 1,000 (joining Brad Smith).
With his performance vs. Boston College, Cook moved past Franklin on MU’s all-time list of career games with at least one passing and one rushing TD (13 games), trailing just Corby Jones and Brad Smith, who each tallied 14 such games.
He also ranks fourth on MU’s all-time passing yardage list (7,610) and trails Smith (8,799) by 1,189 yards for the No. 3 position on the chart.
Cook (43 TDs) also moved into sole possession of the fifth position on the Tigers’ career touchdown passes chart with a pair of scoring strikes to Luther Burden III vs. Vanderbilt, marking the 17th and 18th times the duo has hooked up on a TD pass.
Additionally, Cook’s 2023 passing efficiency rating (157.2) ranked as the third-best season mark in program history, while his career rating (142.7) is second on the Tigers’ all-time chart.
GET YOUR ARKANSAS TICKETS NOW!
A limited number of reserved single-game tickets remain available for the Nov. 30 Arkansas game. Reserved season tickets have sold out as well as single-game reserved tickets for games against Auburn and Oklahoma.
Purchase single-game tickets now by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS or buying online.
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