Colorado at Missouri

Written by Steve Janus

This Saturday the No. 24 Missouri Tigers will look to remain undefeated when they host the Colorado Buffaloes. The Tigers had no problem taking care of business in their last game, as they crushed Miami (OH) 51-13 at home. The Buffaloes surprised a lot of people last week, as they stunned Georgia 29-27 at home. This series has been dominated by Missouri over the last four years, winning by an average of 35 points a game. Last year Missouri went to Colorado and beat the Buffaloes 36-17, but were up 33-0 before Colorado even scored. Interested in betting on the game this weekend? The current college football odds have the Tigers favored by 12.5-points over the Buffaloes at home.

Colorado (3-1, 0-0 Big 12): Colorado got off to a great start last week against Georgia, as they jumped out to an early 14-3 lead, but the Buffaloes defense allowed 21 unanswered points to give Georgia a 24-14 lead. The Buffaloes answered with two third quarter touchdowns to pull ahead 29-24. The defense then did its job the rest of the way, allowing Georgia just three points in the final period of play, and forcing a huge fumble late in the game as Georgia was preparing for the game winning field goal.

Rodney Stewart had a big game on the ground for Colorado, as he ran it 19 times for 149 yards and a score. Starter Brian Lockridge hurt his ankle against Georgia, and had just 36 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, and it remains unclear what kind of impact he will have on this weeks game. The Bulldogs defense gave up 409 yards of total offense to Georgia last week, not exactly the kind of numbers you want to see for a team that has really struggled on the road of late.

Missouri (4-0, 0-0 Big 12): After needing a late second touchdown to beat San Diego State, the Tigers made easy work of Miami in their last game, as they jumped out to 28-3 lead at half, and by the end of the third quarter it was 51-6. Seven different players scored a touchdown for the Tigers, who made things look very easy against the RedHawks. Quarterback Blaine Gabbert threw for 187 yards and a touchdown against Miami, giving him 1,039 yards and five scores on the season.

While the Tigers do most of their damage in the passing game, they have had some nice success on the ground as well this season, as they come in averaging 154 yards a game. Henry Josey leads the way with 212 yards and four touchdowns on just 26 carries, while De’Vion Moore is close behind with 183 yards and three scores. The Tigers defense has been pretty strong to start the season, as they have only allowed more than 13 points in one game this season. If the defense comes out strong against the Buffaloes this week, the Tigers should have no trouble taking home their fifth win of the season.

Looking at the Odds: In my opinion there is no question that you have to take the Tigers -12.5 in this game. Colorado has been absolutely terrible on the road over the last four years, as they have won just two games out of their last 20. The Buffaloes already have a 52-7 loss at California under their belts for the 2010 season. The last time Colorado went on the road to face Missouri, the final score was 58-0. My final score prediction is Missouri 41, 17.

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