COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Missouri Tigers are set for their toughest challenge of the season yet, to host No. 3 Texas A&M Saturday. The Tigers need to win each of their remaining four games this season to have any shot at the College Football Playoff, which they currently rank No. 22 in the best odds to make.
The Aggies are 8-0 on the season with ranked wins over No. 8 Notre Dame and No. 20 LSU. They've scored 30 or more points in every game except their bout with Auburn, and have scored 40 or more points in five games. Texas A&M's high-powered offense ranks second in the Southeastern Conference with 37.75 points per game.
"It's a really well built SEC football team," Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. "It reminds you of going against the big time teams in the past, like what Georgia and Alabama and those kind of games have been, where you knew that any one mistake could lead to a break in the dam, and that it was going to be a 60 minutes where every inch was earned. And that's why I'm so complimentary of how quickly he's been able to build that kind of team and roster."
Missouri fell 30-21 to the No.-2-ranked Georgia in 2023, No.-15-ranked Alabama 34-0 in 2024, and No.-8-ranked Alabama 27-24 in 2025 squads Drinkwitz was referring to. Should Missouri take down Texas A&M, it'd be Drinkwitz' first win over a ranked SEC opponent since No.-13-ranked Tennessee Nov. 11, 2023.
As for the "break in the dam" Drinkwitz referenced, Missouri has struggled allowing big plays to alter the tide of the game this season; MK Young's 80-yard touchdown, Ty Simpson's 29-yard pass on fourth down to Lotzeir Brooks to set up a touchdown, LaNorris Sellers' 49-yard touchdown pass to Vandrevius Jacobs just to name a few.
The Aggies offense is full of explosives, led by Heisman candidate Marcel Reed, who Eli Drinkwitz has believed in far before this season. Before Missouri headed into College Station last year, Drinkwitz predicted Reed would start over Connor Weigman and planned for the then-redshirt freshman to be under center, which came back to bite him.
"I've believed in Marcel Reed for a long time, I mean I was first on the bandwagon," Drinkwitz said. "He's a really good player. You can tell the guys love playing for him, they love playing around him. You know, when he makes a mistake, he just bounces back."
Reed has now cemented himself as the Aggies starter, as Weigman hit the transfer portal and is now at Houston. Now as the full-time starter in 2025, Reed has amassed 2,321 total yards and 23 total touchdowns, emerging as one of the nation's top dual-threat quarterbacks.
His top targets, wideouts Mario Craver and KC Concepcion, have combined for 76 catches, 1,261 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season. Both possess blazing speed as deep threats, and are versatile playmakers with the ball in their hands.
"When the ball is in his hands, he can effective score and, you know, he can make something happen at any point," Missouri safety Jalen Catalon said when asked about the duo. "Our defense has a great plan for what they have, and I think we'll then execute it at very high level."
As for the ground game, stud running back Le'Veon Moss is out for the game against Missouri with an ankle injury, but sophomore Rueben Owens II has stepped up strongly in his place. Owens has rushed for 440 yards and three touchdowns on the season, averaging 5.6 yards per carry in the process.
He provides a consistent backfield threat alongside Reed to create a multi-faceted ground game, one that Missouri will need to contain to win.
The Aggies' defense is strong too. Nic Scourton and Shemar Stewart – who helped terrorized Brady Cook and Missouri's offensive line last season – headed to the NFL and are no longer Aggies. But Mike Elko's defense has retooled just fine, elevating Cashius Howell into a larger role. Howell has dominated, totaling a conference-leading 9.5 sacks
Howell, a Kansas City native who graduated from Rockhurst High School in 2021, slipped through the cracks of Drinkwitz' recruiting efforts, and committed to Bowling Green instead. Drinkwitz referred to missing Howell's talent as a "complete whiff."
Now, Howell will seek to hunt freshman quarterback Matt Zollers in the backfield Saturday, becoming the next big bad edge rusher Missouri's offensive line has to deal with.
"He's a dominant football player in this league," Drinkwitz said. "Every team that feels like has one, and he's as good as any of them. And so it's going to be a real challenge for our offensive tackles. Obviously we have to account for it within our game plan, but the reality of it is, he is elite."
Missouri's starting tackles, Cayden Green and Keagen Trost, both rank in the top-10 PFF grades for SEC offensive lineman this season, with Trost ranking first at a 95.0 grade. If anyone's up for the challenge of stopping Howell, it's those two.