by Benjamin Herrold
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Smile, Mizzou fans, college football is back. On Saturday, the Tigers kick off their 93rd season at Faurot Field by hosting the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks (3 p.m. on SEC Network alternate channel).
The old stadium will have a different look, with the south end zone stands torn down for the ongoing project at that end of the stadium. The new south end zone tower with its seats and suites will be in place for the 2019 season, but for 2018 that end of the stadium will be open, like it was pre-1978.
This is Missouri’s annual game against a team from the lower-level Football Championship Subdivision, where teams have smaller athletic budgets and aren’t allowed to give as many scholarships as Missouri’s Football Bowl Subdivision allows. So it should be a fairly lopsided contest, complete with lots of points and good feelings to start the season.
In the first two years under Coach Barry Odom, Missouri scored 79 and 72 points in its games against FCS opponents. Quarterback Drew Lock and several key offensive players return for this season, so expect another flurry of points this year, even if it may not reach those absurd levels.
It’ll be interesting to see how the defense shows in their first performance of the year. Last year they gave up 43 points to Missouri State in the opener and raised concerns about the year ahead. Somewhere in the neighborhood of half that would be nice to see against the Skyhawks.
Tennessee-Martin is a respectable FCS program, going 6-5 last year. They played Ole Miss, another member of the SEC, last year and lost 45-23. The Skyhawks have lost their last seven games against SEC opponents by an average margin of 42 points per game.
The annual game against an FCS team doesn’t tell too much given that they’re teams from different levels, but it would still be nice to see a good showing from Missouri. The Tigers will hopefully get a smooth start to their season out of the game, and UT-Martin will get a decent paycheck for coming to Columbia to play.
It’ll be hard not to overreact to this game, as it’s our first chance to watch the Tigers in eight months. But this is just the first step. It could also be a good chance to see what’s next for Missouri. The Tigers have fairly experienced starters, but beyond that there are a lot of unproven and young players.
It could be beneficial that Missouri’s schedule seems to start with games that gradually get harder. After this comes a home game against a feisty Wyoming squad, then at Purdue, and then back to Columbia on Sept. 22 for a big game against defending SEC champion and national runner-up Georgia.
Tiger fans are hoping their team can get more and more dialed in each week to meet the increasing challenges. First things first, it starts Saturday when the Tigers take the field in Columbia and college football returns to the Show-Me State.