Saturday, the No. 13 Missouri Tigers will travel to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to play the No. 9 Ole Miss Rebels.
Both teams are coming into this game with one loss and games against No. 1 Georgia, No. 7 Texas and Oklahoma, who just upset Texas, still to come later in the season. Missouri also plays No. 15 Kentucky. Taking a loss in this game would be detrimental to either team's playoff hopes.
The game also marks the first time since transferring to Missouri last January that quarterback Austin Simmons, wide receiver Cayden Lee and cornerback Chris Graves Jr. will return to Oxford.
Simmons and Lee specifically are having breakout seasons, with both of them being crucial pieces of a passing offense that has been able to match the explosiveness of Heisman hopeful quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and Ole Miss'.
Despite similar production, the way Ole Miss and Missouri are getting those results looks drastically different.
Breakdown of Both Teams Offenses
Side by side, Simmons and Chambliss' passing stats are quite similar, despite Missouri playing one more game than Ole Miss so far this season. Simmons has 1,434 passing yards for 8.7 yards per attempt and 14 passing touchdowns, while Chambliss has 1,435 passing yards for 8.2 yards per attempt and 11 passing touchdowns.
The differences begin to appear when looking at interceptions and the two quarterbacks' rushing stats. Simmons has just one interception this year compared to Chambliss' four. However, Chambliss has rushed for 113 yards and five touchdowns, while Simmons has just 26 yards for no rushing touchdowns.
Besides Chambliss simply having the advantage over Simmons in rushing ability, one of the reasons he's been forced to run more to produce has been that his teammate, star running back Kewan Lacy, has been battling injuries all season. Lacy is off the injury report ahead of Saturday's game.
Simmons and Missouri have also temporarily lost their own star running back, Ahmad Hardy, due to a gunshot wound he suffered before the season. However, Jamal Roberts has rushed for 828 yards and eight touchdowns in his place.
Roberts also has the third-most receptions for the Tigers, a symbol of the main difference in Ole Miss and Missouri's play style in the passing game.
Missouri wide receivers Cayden Lee and Donovan Olugbode are the only two players for the Tigers who have more than 100 receiving yards and multiple receiving touchdowns. Besides Roberts, they're also the only players with double-digit receptions.
Lee has been Simmons' favorite target, which makes sense considering the two were part of the same recruiting class for Ole Miss and had already spent three seasons together. Lee has caught 42 passes for 616 yards and five touchdowns. Olugbode hasn't been far behind Lee, though. Olugbode has caught 26 passes for 407 yards and six touchdowns.
Although Ole Miss only has one player with multiple receiving touchdowns in wide receiver Deuce Alexander, whose 32 receptions for 503 yards and five touchdowns leads the team in all three categories, they spread the ball out far more than Missouri.
Outside of Alexander, wide receiver Traylon Ray, tight end Caleb Odom and wide receiver Horatio Fields all have 17 receptions on the season for 231, 230 and 190 receiving yards and a touchdown, respectively. Wide receiver Caleb Cunningham also has 10 catches for 115 yards.
Ole Miss and Missouri's competing philosophies will be tested this Saturday in a ranked matchup between the two teams that has the potential to turn into a shootout.
Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.
Add us as a preferred source on Google