Missouri’s defense is staring at a familiar problem this weekend, and the name attached to it is Marcel Reed.
The Tigers are coming off their biggest win of the season, a 45-17 rout of No. 8 Florida that gave Missouri its first SEC victory and bumped the team from No. 25 to No. 14 in the latest AP Poll.
But the schedule doesn’t ease up. Texas A&M is headed to Columbia for Missouri’s third conference game, and the Aggies bring a quarterback the Tigers already know well.
Reed was a big part of Texas A&M’s 38-17 win over Missouri last November, finishing 20 of 29 for 221 yards and two touchdowns while adding 29 rushing yards on five carries. A year later, he’s still doing damage as one of the SEC’s tougher dual-threat players to pin down.
Through five games, Reed has thrown for 908 yards with six touchdowns and four interceptions. He’s also added 170 rushing yards on 43 carries and scored twice on the ground.
Missouri defensive back Santana Banner said the Tigers understand exactly what makes Reed dangerous.
“He's an athletic quarterback," Banner said. "He's very good with his feet. Likes to get vertical scrambling."
Banner also said Missouri is leaning on last year’s matchup as it prepares for Saturday.
"We're going back on our film from last year and figuring out the best way to protect their offense," Banner said.
Linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez pointed to the same challenge from a different angle: Reed can hurt Missouri in more than one way.
"Marcel is a great quarterback as well, so that adds another element to it,” Rodriguez said. “He could throw the ball as well. He could beat us with his arm and his legs."
That’s the task in front of Missouri now - slowing Reed down enough to keep Texas A&M from turning him into the kind of problem that burned the Tigers a season ago.
In Other News...
Missouri Faces A New SEC Test With One Aggies Threat Looming
Texas A&Ms September stumble sent the Aggies tumbling out of the AP Top 25, but the reset they found in a win over Arkansas has them heading into an SEC matchup with No. 14 Missouri with some momentum restored. Eli Drinkwitz already has his eye on the part of the Aggies offense that can change a game in a hurry, pointing to quarterback Marcel Reed as the central problem for Missouri to solve.
Reeds regained confidence and dual-threat ability give Texas A&M a different kind of stress test than the Tigers have seen in recent weeks, especially with Mike Elko saying the overall team performance has started to improve. Missouri, meanwhile, is trying to protect its ranking and avoid letting a surging quarterback turn a promising conference position into a long afternoon. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou Still Has One Huge Ahmad Hardy Question Hanging Over Its Offense
Ahmad Hardy remains the biggest lingering question around Missouris offense, even after the Tigers have moved forward with Jamal Roberts as the lead back. Eli Drinkwitz said Hardy has not yet returned to practice while he continues to recover from the gunshot wound he suffered in May, and Roberts has handled the workload well enough to keep the running game moving in Hardys absence.
For now, the issue is less about production than availability. Drinkwitz indicated Hardy is still working hard through the recovery process, but he is not physically ready to jump back into SEC competition, with the Tigers still waiting to see when he can get back on the field and start building toward a real return. [Read more 🡒]
Missouri Faces A Dangerous Spot After Its Biggest Win Yet
Missouris biggest win of the season has created the kind of week coaches spend all year trying to avoid. After the 45-17 rout of Florida, the Tigers are back in the spotlight for all the right reasons, but the challenge now is carrying that momentum into a follow-up game that often exposes whether a team is truly settled or just riding emotion.
The larger warning sign is that this sort of hangover has already shown up around the SEC this season, with several teams stumbling after statement victories. Missouri now lands in that same conversation as it prepares for Texas A&M in Week 6, where the danger is not the size of the opponent so much as the edge a team can lose after its best afternoon. [Read more 🡒]