Indiana @ Missouri preview
Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium
Last Meeting ( Sep 21, 2013 ) Missouri 45, Indiana 28
No individual in the country has been responsible for more points this season than Missouri’s Maty Mauk, but perhaps no player has been as dominant as Indiana’s Tevin Coleman. Seeking their seventh 4-0 start in the last nine years, the 19th-ranked Tigers close out their nonconference slate Saturday at home against the Hoosiers. Mauk is tied with two other quarterbacks for the national lead in touchdown passes (12) and has even added a rushing score to account for a NCAA-best 78 points.
Mauk has been incredibly efficient, requiring only 77 passing attempts to amass his gaudy totals through the air while Washington State’s Connor Halliday and Western Kentucky’s Brandon Doughty – the two quarterbacks he is tied with in passing touchdowns – have each recorded at least 170 attempts. Efficiency only begins to describe Coleman, who is averaging 9.3 yards per carry and paces the country in rushing yards per game (218.5) and all-purpose yards per game (237.5). However, the junior running back’s three-touchdown outburst last weekend wasn’t enough in the Hoosiers’ heartbreaking 45-42 loss at Bowling Green.
TV: 4 p.m. ET, SEC Network. LINE: Missouri -13.5
ABOUT INDIANA (1-1): Coleman was limited to 79 total yards (including 54 rushing) in last September’s 45-28 loss to the Tigers, but has been held under 99 total yards only once since and has amassed at least 222 in each of his last three games. The Illinois native has ripped off four consecutive 100-yard rushing performances – tied for best in the nation – and spearheads an offense than ranks third nationally in rushing (345 yards per game) and ninth in total offense (574). Coleman also leads the country in 30- (13), 40- (10) and 50-yard (six) runs and is second in 60-yarders (four).
ABOUT MISSOURI (3-0): One of the many reasons for Mauk’s efficiency comes from the dynamic play of the running game, which saw each of its key contributors leave before the end of last week’s 38-10 victory over Central Florida. Marcus Murphy rushed for 94 yards on 15 carries before sitting out the last five minutes with a mild ankle injury, while Russell Hansbrough (48 on nine attempts) left on the first play of the fourth quarter due to dizziness, but both are expected to go against Indiana. The defense also has more than held its own, recording a SEC-high 12 sacks and forcing five interceptions.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Missouri has forced a turnover in a NCAA-high 47 consecutive games, 18 more than second-place Louisiana-Monroe.
2. Coleman, who has found the end zone at least once in a FBS-high 11 straight contests, can match Anthony Thompson’s school-record streak with another touchdown Saturday.
3. The Tigers can collect consecutive victories over the Hoosiers for the first time since the schools met back in 1953 and 1954.
PREDICTION: Missouri 48, Indiana 31