The Missouri Tigers will not be able to shutdown the Auburn run game. However, that’s not necessarily a death sentence at the SEC Championship game this Saturday in Atlanta. Auburn leads the SEC with 318 yards per game, but Missouri is second in the conference behind Auburn and Mizzou boasts a good run defense that ranks second in the league, allowing just 119.1 yards per game. Good stat right? Not so fast. Alabama was number one in the conference in that statistical category.
So what is the key to slowing down the Auburn run game? Shane Bailey of SEC Sports Round Table and Nick Jones from Bamahammer.com try to answer that question for us on this Missouri Lottery-Mizzou SEC Championship Hangout.
Auburn’s run attack gives quarterback Nick Marshall four or five options to choose from out of their run game. Most teams that use this read attack, have just two options. Shane says if the Tigers can keep Marshall in the pocket, it limits some of his options. Nick adds that Missouri has to stay true to their defense and realize they will give up yards and big plays to Auburn. He says Mizzou will have to score, because they will give up points against Auburn.
Nick is a student at the University of Alabama and I wanted to get his take on life on campus which is called a dead week. (Which by the way has nothing to do with them losing.) We’ve heard all of these stories about death threats to their kicker, a woman killing another woman over the loss…are things this crazed in the land of Dixie?