Troy Trojans vs Missouri Tigers Week 6 Preview

Who: Troy Trojans @ Missouri Tigers

When: Saturday October 5th at 4pm

Where: Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri

How: SEC Network

Line: Tigers -25, o/u 65

History: Tigers 2-1

Keys to the Game

Troy Trojans: DEFENSE. I know I sound like a broken record at this point but defense has been a huge concern for the Trojans early on in the season.

Obviously you hope to get the defense back on track following a 50-43 loss. Unfortunately, playing Missouri, and Clemson transfer QB Kelly Bryant, is not exactly the match up you want to try and right the wrongs on defense.

After allowing 47 and 50 to Southern Miss and Arkansas State, respectively, things could get out of hand quick against the Tigers.

Nonetheless, head coach Chip Lindsey and defensive coordinator Brandon Hall have to be thinking from the standpoint of improvement.

On offense, do not change a thing. Everything seems to be working and the two losses can most certainly not be attributed to a lackluster offense. Take a look at these numbers:

40.75 points and 512.5 yards per game is incredible. I would have to imagine that the numbers will not quite look like this at the end of the season.

However, the Trojans are showing no signs of slowing up and will look to put the Tigers on upset alert for the whole country to see.

Missouri Tigers: Avoid the perennial slow start following a bye week. With the momentum they had, the Tigers will be looking to continue that here against the Trojans.

The Trojans have proved that they have no issues moving the ball and lighting up the scoreboard. If you are Kelly Bryant and the Tigers, the last thing you need is to have to abandon the run game early and rely on a heavy passing attack to get you back into this game.

Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images

Ideally, the Tigers can jump out to an early lead and run some clock while hiding any new offensive packages and tricks installed during the bye week.

ATS Prediction:

Troy is receiving 54% of the tickets accounting for 63% of the dollars resulting in the line dropping from 25.5 to 25 in favor of the Tigers.

As for the total, it opened at 63 and has jumped to the current number of 65 thanks to 76% of the tickets coming in on the over.

Missouri sits at 3-1 with their sole loss at the hands of Wyoming in Week 1. Since then, the Tigers have rolled through West Virginia, SEMO, and South Carolina by a combined 122-21. Missouri is coming off a bye entering this game against the Trojans

Troy suffered another tough loss to conference opponent, Arkansas State, last week leaving them at 2-2 on the season and scratching their heads over some very questionable defensive play.

I tend to shy away from lines this large and I will continue that trend here. Yes, the Tigers are coming off a bye week and will have had an extra week to gameplan. That said, Missouri may be caught looking ahead to a match up against Ole Miss the following week.

The Trojans have had some recent success against Power 5 opponents, including a 24-21 victory over the LSU Tigers in 2017 followed by a 24-19 victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers in 2018.

That said, I do not feel that this will be a repeat for the Trojans, yet I am not in any position to lay the points with the Tigers

Final Score Prediction: Missouri 42-20