2013 SEC Predictions – Missouri Tigers

In 13 years as the head coach of the Mizzou Tigers, Gary Pinkel is
90-61. In his inaugural season as a SEC coach the Tigers went 5-7
overall and 2-6 in the SEC with an average margin of a loss coming by
19 points and their SEC wins by an average margin of 13. However, the
Tigers beat Kentucky by 23 and managed a 3 point victory over the
Vawls in OT. Offensive Coordinator David Yost “resigned” 9 days after
the season ended and Pinkel replaced him with his Offensive Line coach
Josh Henson. Many do not expect Henson to make drastic changes to an
offense that averaged 217.9 passing yards and 138.5 yards on the
ground. They better find a way to improve that running game or they
may not have a much better record in 2013 than they did in 2012
because Pinkel’s backside may already be feeling the heat.

8/31 Murray State

The Racers went 5-6 in Division II and lost by 60 points to FSUcks.
Mizzou should get some good work in on improving their game. Mizzou
by 40.

9/7 Toledo

The Rockets will have just come off a road trip to play THE FLORIDA
GATORS in The Swamp and highly likely feeling like the rocket went
through a field of asteroids and comets and looking for a much
smoother ride vs. the Tigers. To a certain point, they will get one,
but still come up short vs. a team with a lot to prove in 2013.
Tigers by 21.

9/14 OPEN DATE

9/21 @Indiana

Mizzou probably really wishes they were invited to play in the B1G
rather than the SEC because they would likely have had greater success
playing in that league. So to stick it to the B1G, they are headed to
Bloomington, Indiana to face the Hoosiers who ended the season 4-8 and
2-6 in the B1G. The Hoosiers had no problem putting points on the
scoreboard averaging 30.8 points per game, their problem (like Mizzou)
is they couldn’t stop anyone allowing an average of 35.3 points per
game. The Hoosiers lost by an average margin of 11.5 points per game.
That speaks volumes of the offensive impact Kevin Wilson has had in
just one year as Head Hoosier who has recruited well and you can
expect will want to see improvement on the defensive side of the ball
in 2013. Mizzou and Indiana are two programs very much alike and both
very much in transition. This one is close, but I think Mizzou may
have a little more to work with than Indiana. Mizzou by 7.

9/28 Arkansas State

Even though they played in the SunBelt, Arkansas State had a pretty
impressive year when you look at what they did vs. quality
competition. The RedWolves opened the season vs. Oregon in 2012 and
lost 57-34. They lost to a Nebraska team, who is better defensively,
42-13. Other than a loss to Western Kentucky, they won every other
game on their schedule. So why is that impressive? They managed 530
yards of offense vs. the Ducks 630 and 287 vs. the Huskers 527. This
is Arkansas STATE, not the Razorbacks, in the one year with Gus
Malzahn as the head coach. Malzahn has returned to Auburn to take
over the head coaching gig from Chizik and is replaced by former Texas
Offensive Coordinator Bryan Harsin. Harsin has 7 starters returning
on Offense and 5 on defense from 2012. Not gonna be a good start for
Harsin in his first year as head coach. Mizzou by 20.

10/5 at Vanderbilt

Mizzou enters their second season of SEC play with a road trip to
NashVegas to face a Commodore team who won this match up by 4 points
in 2012 sending the Tigers to 0-2 in SEC play. Everyone is so quick
to make the Commodores this darling team under James Franklin. Yes he
has improved the team on the field. Yes, he has recruited well. Yes,
he took them to two straight bowl games. But, Kentucky is worse than
they have ever been, and Tennessee couldn’t stop a snail if they
wanted to. Vandy took advantage of that situation and they should
have, but their success will probably be short lived without an
experienced QB ready to go. Mizzou returns a QB, also James Franklin,
who has accounted for over 4500 yards in his career and 32 touchdowns.
Vandy will still have a decent defense in 2012, but the Tigers will be
1 step closer to bowl eligibility in 2013 after this win by 3.

10/12 @Jawjuh

If I told you that the Leghumpers managed 355 yards of offense with 2
turnovers compared to the Tigers 371 yards of offense and 3 turnovers,
would you ever think that the winner of this game did so by a margin
of 21 points? On paper you wouldn’t but that’s just the kind of rude
introduction the Slobberhounds gave the Tigers in 2012. A big part of
that success the Mutts had was because of their defense who lost a lot
of talent to the NFL and will be looking to reload on depth. Credit
has to be given to Aaron Murray and that Offense though to keep the
ball rolling. It is still up in the air as to whether Mizzou will be
decidedly improved in 2013 and they have to travel to the Biggest Hell
Hole on Earth this time around. Slobberhounds by 14.

10/19 THE FLORIDA GATORS

Mizzou continues a nice little brutal stretch of games returning from
Hell on Earth to face THE FLORIDA GATORS at home in Columbia. Here
are some more numbers for you to guess the winner of this game in
2012. Mizzou – 335 yards of offense and 23 first down. THE FLORIDA
GATORS – 276 and 11 first downs. Mizzou right? Wrong. THE FLORIDA
GATORS won 14-7. Mizzou faced one of the best defenses in the entire
country and James Franklin gave up 4 INTs. This year, Florida travels
a second week in a row this time to Columbia after facing Toledo,
@Miami (Fl), the Vawls, @Kentucky, Arkansas and @LSU likely with only
one loss on the books. The Gators defense will likely be as good and
some believe maybe better than in 2012. You have to believe that the
Gators Achilles Heel, the passing game, will improve in 2013 as well.
This may stay close for a while, but the Gators pull out another
victory by 10 and become bowl eligible.

10/26 South Carolina

After two likely big SEC-East losses, Pinkel really needs a signature
win or he may find himself in the unemployment line. In 2012, the
Gamecocks had 21 points on the board vs. the Tigers before halftime
and scored 10 more points to close out a 31-10 victory. In 2013, both
teams return established QB’s who have both had a certain amount of
success in their tenure. Unfortunately for Mizzou, while they are
likely to have a better overall season in 2013, you just don’t
miraculously improve enough after one season of allowing an average
margin of loss of 33 points to SEC counterparts alone. Gamecocks by
13.

11/2 Tennessee

In 2012, this was the game that just didn’t want to win. Or was that
the game that neither wanted to quit? Or was that the game that
neither teams defense could stop the other? Tennessee managed 585
yards, 32 first downs of offense compared to Mizzou’s 454 yards and 20
first downs. This barely worked out in Mizzou’s favor last year
scoring 23 points in overtime and allowing Tennessee to score 20. 43
POINTS IN 4 OVERTIMES! That game was likely whiskey that fueled Derek
Dooley’s pink slip. Enter Butch Jones as head Vawl, with no QB and
they are on the road after facing Austin Peay, Western Kentucky,
@Oregon, @Florida, South Alabama, Jawjuh, South Carolina and @Bama.
With very little depth to speak of Tennessee will just be happy to
keep these games close and stay competitive. Mizzou by 13 and becomes
bowl eligible.

11/9 @Kentucky

If you thought Tennessee was bad… Kentucky was a lot worse. Not only
could they not stop other teams from scoring, they couldn’t score
themselves and it cost Joker Phillips his job. For a Mizzou team who
lost most of their SEC slate by 33 points on average to beat a team by
23 points says a lot about how bad the Wildcats were. In comes Mark
Stoops, former FSUcks defensive coordinator, to save the day. While
he has remarkably recruited well in such a short time, he has a lot to
do before Ky will even be close to competitive again. Mizzou will be
looking to secure a better bowl game before taking a week off to take
on two more SEC teams. Tigers by 17.

11/16 OPEN DATE

11/23 @Ole Miss

After week off and showing much improvement over 2012, the Tigers will
head to Oxford to face a Rebel team who under Hugh Freeze seems to be
on the rise. Ole Miss is one game shy of repeating their bowl
eligibility and invites a Mizzou team likely feeling pretty confident
about itself and rested up after a week off prior. The Rebel yell for
2013 should be “Ole Mission” and out to prove they can compete in the
SEC with the best of them. Taking down the Tigers doesn’t prove much,
but it doesn’t hurt either. Rebels win a close one by 6.

11/30 Texas A&M

In 2012, the Farmers declawed their former Big12 rivals and SEC cross
divisional foe by 30 points and nearly 200 yards of offense helping
the Johnny IShouldntTweet Heisman campaign. Assuming the Heisman
winner has his head in the game, they will likely have two losses to
LSU and Bama. The Aggie offense is likely to be just as explosive as
they were in 2012 under new Offensive Coordinator Clarence McKinney,
while both teams are likely to struggle defensively. This will be the
second road game for the Aggies who likely just lost their second game
of the season to the other Tigers in Baton Rouge. Mizzou does not
have near the talent or the depth that LSU has, and the Aggies should
win this match up 2 years in a row. Aggies by 20.

Closing

Gary Pinkel and the Tigers should show improvement by 2 games and
earning bowl eligibility in 2013 with a 7-5 record. All year long we
will hear about how hot Pinkels seat will be, and the closing question
will be… is 7 wins enough to save his backside. He probably should be
cut some slack.. but the expectation will be to improve on that record
again in 2015 and likely without an experienced QB in place.