Dooley’s Dozen: 12 important facts about Missouri Tigers football
For being newbies in the rivalry business, Florida and Missouri already have some history. Especially in recent years.
The pushing and shoving at halftime of the 2020 game, Dan Mullen showing up in a Darth Vader costume for his postgame, blowouts and overtime games, oh my!
Florida heads to CoMo (Columbia, Missouri) on Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. ET game and doesn’t even get a return trip. After 12 straight years of playing, the Tigers are not on the UF schedule next year — a fact plenty of fans are probably rejoicing.
The Dooley’s Dozen takes a look at 12 things you need to know about the Missouri Tigers college football program.
If you go, check out the columns
I will say that I don’t miss the trips to the other Columbia mainly because it’s difficult to get there, but the town itself is wonderful. It has been referred to as the “Athens of the West” because of its architecture and many columns.
Don’t believe the signs that say “Aristotle Slept Here.”
Don’t buy into the hype
That Florida never plays well there. The Gators are 2-3 at Faurot Field and one loss came the week Jim McElwain was fired. Another came in overtime when Mizzou went for two to take a 24-23 win and help get Mullen fired the next day.
They are rarely ranked
Florida and Missouri have played 12 times and are tied with six wins each. Only once have both teams been ranked. That was in Columbia in 2013 when it got away from Will Muschamp’s offensively-challenged team and Missouri won 36-17.
This is the third time Missouri (ranked 11th in the US LBM Coaches Poll) has been ranked going into this game.
Eli Drinkwitz is getting it done
The state of Missouri allows NIL money to high school players if they play college ball in the state. Mizzou is the only FBS program in the state. Drinkwitz has parlayed that loophole into being a dangerous recruiter and has his team at 8-2 right now.
He’s got a stud quarterback
We saw Brady Cook a year ago and he was very pedestrian (22-of-30 with two picks in a loss). But as Florida continues to run through this gauntlet of elite opposing quarterbacks, Cook is showing this season that he is one of them with 2,746 yards passing and six rushing touchdowns.
But this Cody Schrader guy is a problem
The diminutive former walk-on from Truman State became the first player in SEC history to rush for more than 200 yards and catch passes for more than 100 in the Tiger’s rout of Tennessee.
He leads the SEC in rushing as the only player so far to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark.
And he has plenty of help
Both Schrader and sophomore Luther Burden have eclipsed 1,000 yards of all-purpose yards.
Burden was a 5-star recruit who has lived up to his billing. He has fought through some injuries to still catch 68 passes (23 more than a year ago) and eight TD passes. They also like to use him running the ball where he has scored twice.
Wait, there is more
Theo Wease is a problem as his 43 catches for 547 yards show. Mizzou is fifth in a very offense-centric SEC this season. The two losses came at Georgia 30-21 and at LSU 49-39.
The Tigers are 26th in the country in total offense averaging 6.1 yards a play.
You may see picks and penalties
Graham Mertz doesn’t throw many and Florida doesn’t get many, but Missouri has intercepted eight passes this year and thrown seven. And while Florida has had its problems, Mizzou is 111th in the country in penalties per game.
There are some familiar faces
Ty’Ron Hopper’s last appearance at Florida was his ejection from the Gasparilla Bowl (we all wanted to leave, buddy), but he has flourished at Missouri. Hopper flirted with the NFL before deciding to return and leads the team in tackles.
He was injured in the Tennessee game and is questionable. Tre’Vez Johnson was a solid player on last year’s Florida team, but also went north and is a back-up at the star position.
It’s a different stadium
But it will be pretty loud. Not as loud as the other schools in the SEC called Tigers. But this is the fifth sellout this year and even though it seats just 62,000 it can be noisy. The rocks in the one end zone are weird… just weird.
By the way, the predicted low for Saturday night is 35 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Tigers want a big bowl
Florida, of course, just wants a bowl. Mizzou feels like it has put itself in place for a New Year’s Six Bowl game if it can get by Florida and an Arkansas team that just got throttled by Auburn.
Missouri has only had three 11-win seasons in the history of the program, so that would be a big deal.
Read more
Everything Florida HC Billy Napier said to open up Week 12 against Missouri
ESPN projects Florida to play in bowl game following Week 11 loss to LSU
Former Gators coach takes over MSU after Zach Arnett fired
Florida loses commitment from 4-star CB Wardell Mack
Florida football takes another hit in USA TODAY Sports’ Week 11 re-rank
Florida offensive lineman Jordan Herman entering transfer portal
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