Kansas State at Missouri
Written by Jack Jones - Google +
The Kansas State Wildcats travel to face the Missouri Tigers Saturday in a border rivalry between Big 12 North schools. If you are interested in wagering on this game, then you will find lines of Missouri -13 over Kansas State with a total set of 54.5 points.
The 20th-ranked Tigers have had little to celebrate since they upset Oklahoma in their last home game to improve to 7-0 on the season. Since, they’ve dropped back-to-back games to fall to 7-2 overall and 3-2 in Big 12 play. Their chances of winning the North are slim to none. The potential this season looked so promising after Missouri beat then-No. 3 Oklahoma 36-27, which was their seventh straight win to open the season and the first time that’s happened in 50 yards.
Missouri was ranked as high as No. 7 after their win over the Sooners, but the following week they fell behind Nebraska 24-0 and eventually lost 31-17 in Lincoln. They came back strong last week and took a 14-0 lead early over Texas Tech within the first eight minutes of regulation, but went on to score just 3 points the rest of the way and lost to the Red Raiders 24-17.
A big reason for the Tigers’ recent struggles has been the play of QB Blaine Gabbert. After starting the season completing 67.3 percent of his passes with 271.3 passing yards per game during their 7-0 start, Gabbert has completed just 41.7 percent of his passes for 294 total yards in their two losses. Head coach Gary Pinkel still has confidence his quarterback can get it done. Gabbert threw for 298 yards and three touchdowns in last year’s 38-12 win at Kansas State, so he has some confidence coming in.
This isn’t the same team that Missouri trounced a year ago, though. Kansas State (6-3, 3-3) is coming off of a 39-14 win over Texas, handing the Longhorns their worst loss of the season. They did it behind sophomore quarterback Collin Klein, who took the place of starter Carson Coffman after he was listed with an undisclosed injury. Klein went on to rush for 127 yards and two touchdowns to help the Wildcats become bowl eligible for the first time since 1006.
Senior tailback Daniel Thomas rushed for 106 yards and two scores as well. The Wildcats did give up 412 total yards to the Longhorns, but the stop unit came up with 5 interceptions to help keep Texas off the scoreboard for the majority of the game. Thomas is second in the Big 12 in rushing this season with 1,102 yards on the ground. He was limited to 79 in last year’s loss to the Tigers, but has gone over the century mark in three straight games coming in. Head coach Bill Snyder hasn’t stated who will start at quarterback, but if Coffman cannot go Klein has proven he is up to the task. Kansas State will have to overcome a 4-22 road mark in their last 26 away from home, and also a seven-game losing streak to Top 25 teams.
BetUS Projected Score: Missouri 34 – Kansas State 21
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