Longhorns and Tigers collide in Columbia

NCAA Football Betting Lines

10/21/2009 - Columbia, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The third-ranked Texas Longhorns make the trip to Columbia this week to take on the Missouri Tigers in a key Big 12 tussle.

Mack Brown's Longhorns took a huge step toward a Big 12 title, with last weekend's 16-13 win over Oklahoma in the 104th edition of the Red River Rivalry. With the victory, Texas moved to 6-0 on the season and 3-0 in conference play, all alone atop the Big 12 South standings.

Still, Missouri presents a real challenge this week according to Brown.

"Missouri will be a tough game. They had two tough losses back-to-back. They really played hard against Nebraska and were ahead of them and gave up points in the fourth quarter in that rainstorm to win. But Blaine Gabbert is a really good quarterback, they have a 6-5 receiver, another receiver that can really run."

Gary Pinkel's Tigers are pretty much out of the conference title hunt, despite league play just getting under way. Missouri is one of three winless teams in the conference at 0-2, residing in the Big 12 North's cellar. Missouri will be playing its third straight ranked opponent, dropping league matchups to both Nebraska (27-12) and most recently, Oklahoma State (33-17).

Still, Pinkel is eager for the task at hand this week.

"We all know that Texas is certainly a top-five team. Might be the best team in the country, time will tell. They have some good players, they lost some players, but they reloaded well. It is a great opportunity for us to be at 'The Zou' and play them. It will be a wild setting. It's a great challenge for us and were looking forward to working hard and trying to play our best game."

This is just the 22nd meeting in a series that dates back to 1894. Texas holds a sizeable advantage at 16-5 thanks to wins in 14 of the last 15 meetings overall. Missouri's last win in the series came in 1997.

Texas didn't exactly light it up against the Sooners last week, but not many teams have the ability to do that against one of the best defenses in the country. The Longhorns managed just 269 total yards of offense

Suffering from a bad head cold, Colt McCoy struggled against a stiff defensive effort from Oklahoma, completing just 21-of-39 passes, for 127 yards and one TD. He also threw one interception and was sacked four times. McCoy returned to Austin to play for a national championship and perhaps pick up a Heisman along the way. However, the numbers on the season may not be enough. He has completed a high percentage of his passes (.700), but it has resulted in just 1,537 yards, with 11 TDs and seven INTs. Jordan Shipley remains the top target downfield, pacing the team in receptions (51) and receiving yards (605), with three scores.

The ground game lacks a real workhorse, but rather relies on the steady play of both Vondrell McGee (5.7 ypc, two TDs) and Tre' Newton (5.0 ypc, three TDs).

Despite the less-than-stellar numbers against OU, Texas remains among the nation's elite offenses, averaging 42.0 ppg, on 444.5 total yards.

While the offense had its problems with Oklahoma, the defense had its way with the Sooners. Texas held a strong OU rushing attack to -16 yards on the ground and while the passing game had more success, the Longhorns knocked Heisman winner Sam Bradford out of the game early on.

The Longhorns have proven week-in and week-out to be one of the stingiest stop units in the country, including leading the nation in rush defense (35.8 ypg, on 1.3 ypc). The pass defense has been a little more generous, but the team is still yielding a mere 246.0 total yards per game to rank sixth nationally.

Linebacker Roddrick Muckelroy continues to lead the charge with 40 tackles. He also has six TFLs, two sacks and seven QB hurries. Other players that get upfield and disrupt things are ends Sergio Kindle (25 tackles, seven TFLs, two sacks) and Sam Acho (22 tackles, seven TFLs, five sacks) and LB Emmanuel Acho (22 tackles, eight TFLs, one sack). Sophomore safety Earl Thomas has led the way in the secondary (27 tackles, nine PBUs) and is a real ballhawk, responsible for five of the team's 10 interceptions this season.

The Missouri offense was completely neutralized in the second half last week and what was a 17-14 lead before the break, turned into a 33-17 loss to the Cowboys. The team got a decent effort from Gabbert, but lost the turnover battle, 4-0 and that ultimately cost the Tigers the game. Gabbert passed for 325 yards, but three of the turnovers were interceptions by him.

Gabbert has been solid thus far, completing 58 percent of his passes, for 1,620 yards, with 12 TDs. It helps to have a pair of reliable targets in the form of Danario Alexander (44 receptions, for 627 yards, five TDs) and Jared Perry (31 receptions, for 493 yards, five TDs). The ground game isn't prolific by any stretch (121.8 ypg), with Derrick Washington (69.3 ypg) representing the most productive option to date.

The Missouri defense has had its ups and downs in 2009. The unit is only allowing 336.8 yards of total offense per game, but opponents have converted 40 percent of the time on third down, keeping the unit on the field. The team has also failed to produce big plays, with just eight takeaways in the first six games.

All-American candidate Sean Weatherspoon (LB) spearheads the Missouri attack on defense. He currently leads the team in tackles (50), with five TFLs and 1.5 sacks. Fellow LB Andrew Gachkar (33 tackles, two sacks, three fumble recoveries), FS Jasper Simmons (33 tackles, one fumble recovery) and DE Aldon Smith (27 tackles, 5.0 TFLs, 3.0 sacks) have all made plays.