COLUMBIA, Mo — For the fourth week in a row, Missouri should win its football game. That’s no stretch or hot take. The No.
7 Tigers, at 3-0, host 2-1 Vanderbilt on Saturday to open Southeastern Conference play. As has been the case in the past three games, Mizzou is favored and expected to win comfortably. It’s important that MU does that, not just for its eventual hope of landing among the 12 teams that make the College Football Playoff, but in the short term, too.
Missouri will probably be the favorite in most of its games this year. But after this one, the Tigers will have to take their show on the road. Margins shrink in enemy confines.
Mistakes that can be erased by the confidence of home field advantage stick out like blaze orange in the woods within opponents’ stadiums — but that’s a story to be written before Mizzou’s game October 5 at Texas A&M. In the meantime, MU has a valuable opportunity to clean up its act before some of the season’s biggest tests arrive. Perfect football likely won’t be required to beat the Commodores on Saturday — Georgia State pulled off a W over Vandy last weekend, which is telling.
But steps toward that idealized version of what Missouri can be are important this weekend. “It’s gonna be a real challenge for us,” coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “And really, it’s not about our opponent.
It’s about us and our approach and how much better we can improve, how much more disciplined and consistent we can be in all three p.