Last week in College Station, TX. is in the rear-view mirror. The #21 ranked 4-1 Tigers continue their mid-season road trip landing in Amherst, MA. against the 1-5 UMass Minutemen Saturday morning with another 11a kickoff.

Following a pile of issues against Texas A&M and gearing up for a six game SEC run Mizzou will be seeking to fine tune its offense and defense against the Independent Minutemen.

UMass does sport a skilled QB in Senior Taisun Phommachanh who has size (6’3”-220), talent (a big arm and seems to glide when he runs) and who is at his third school (Clemson, GA Tech and UMass). Phommachanh has more passing yards for the Minutemen than Mizzou’s QB Brady Cook (1280 to 1132) and leads his team in rushing too. Containing Phommachanh and blanketing his main target Jakobie Keeney-James is priority one for Mizzou's D.

Massachusetts v Auburn
Getty Images - Phommachanch
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The Tiger defense is far beyond the MAC schools that UMass has played and lost to this season.  Meanwhile, Mizzou’s offense is more dynamic than any team the Minutemen have played so far.

Brady Cook should use this game to build on his confidence, rhythm and on field symmetry with his targets. Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll should run through big holes opened by the tiger O-line. Mizzou must hammer out the kinks on both sides of the ball Saturday.

Missouri v Texas A&M
Getty Images - Cook and Noel
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The Umass defense is led by linebacker Jalen Stewart but it isn’t deep. Should Mizzou QB Brady Cook be sharp and the Mizzou lines dominate it’ll be a long day for the Minutemen.

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The Tigers are favored by (almost) four touchdowns. There are a-lot more "should"s for the Tigers here. If Mizzou’s defense controls Phommachanh they’ll be looking to leave the Bay state with a bigger win than four touchdowns and the "should"s will turn to "did"s.

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