No. 6 Missouri – 51 points (last week 43 points)
I don’t know where this Missouri football team has been, but Laramie seems like a far-off nightmare in comparison to what the Tigers are doing now. Kelly Bryant continues to be Kelly Bryant, passing for 227 yards (rushing for 77) and two touchdowns against South Carolina on Saturday. The Missouri defense was unreal, holding the Gamecocks to just 16 yards on the ground. This is the same South Carolina offense that put up over 450 yards against Alabama the week before.
Head coach Barry Odom is never going to get the blue chips to play in Columbia for him, but his hiring of OC Derek Dooley (what seemed maddeningly stupid at the time) and his promoting of current DC Ryan Walters has proved to be just what the doctor ordered. No one is necessarily expecting them to go into Athens and beat Georgia, but with a favorable draw from the SEC West and the bottom three or four from the East looking very bottom-y, it’s very possible this Missouri team could challenge Florida for the second spot in its division by year’s end.
Missouri has a BYE this Saturday before hosting Troy on October 5th.
No. 7 Mississippi State – 46 points (last week 38 points)
After a deflating loss to Kansas State in Starkville last Saturday, Mississippi State football needed a major boost or things might’ve begun to go off the rails. They got it with a resounding 28-13 win over Kentucky in Lexington. As of right now, former Bulldog backup QB Garrett Schrader appears to be the guy to run head coach Joe Moorhead’s offense going forward. He threw for 180 yards and rush for 125 more. Running back Kylin Hill continues to prove his worth in a conference with very few running backs not named D’Andre Swift doing so.
Bob Shoop’s defense continues to play over its head despite the loss of three first rounders, holding Wildcat QB Sawyer Smith to just 5.7 yards per pass. This is the type of play that keeps a team like State from getting bowled over by the toughest division in the FBS. If Moorhead can get Schrader to play with even more efficiency down the stretch, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they finish fourth in the West, which is saying a bunch.
Mississippi State will travel to The Plains on Saturday.