Missouri vs Mississippi State Prediction, Game Preview, and Betting Lines

Originally posted on College Football News
By Pete Fiutak | Last updated Nov 19, 2024 3:29 PM ET

Missouri won a thriller over Oklahoma two weeks ago, lost a thriller to South Carolina last week, and now it’s out of the SEC and College Football Playoff hunt.

However, even in an up-and-down season, this can be a great campaign with a shot at getting to ten-wins by winning out with Mississippi State this week and then Arkansas in the home finale.

Mississippi State is playing to see what it has for 2025. It got its first win over an FBS team a few weeks ago against UMass, and it had two weeks off, and now it finishes in a flash with Mizzou and the Egg Bowl rivalry against Ole Miss six days later.

Missouri vs Mississippi State: How to Watch and Game Preview

Date: Saturday, November 23, 2024
Game Time: 4:15 pm ET
How To Watch: SEC Network
Venue: Davis Wade Stadium, Starkville, MS
Teams: Mississippi State (2-8), Missouri (7-3)
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Why Missouri Will Win

How do you beat Missouri? You complete a large percentage of passes.

The Missouri offense has struggled to get going early on over the last few weeks, and the passing game has to be a LOT better, but as long as the defense is keeping offenses from hitting more than 60% of their throws all is fine.

Oklahoma did that, and it took a near miracle to pull off the victory. That as the only time the Tigers won when allowing a team to complete 61% or more of their throws. Mississippi State completes 59% of its passes and didn’t hit a thing in the loss to Tennessee a few weeks ago.

Why Mississippi State Will Win

The Bulldogs have to get hot early.

Missouri managed six first half points against South Carolina and 12 in the first three quarters last week. The team cam up with ten points in the first three quarters against Missouri, got shut out by Alabama, and managed just six points in the first three quarters against Auburn.

There wasn’t a problem against UMass, but take a guess what the issue was in the loss to Texas A&M - seven points in the first three quarters of a 41-10 blasting.

Mississippi State has to survive and advance. The defense has had big problems all year, but at home if the offense can just come up with an early score or two, it should stay in this.

Missouri vs Mississippi State: Who Will Win?

Mississippi State will pull everything out of the bag to try making this a fight, but Missouri will be methodical. It won’t take too many chances, it’ll run 40 times, and it’ll get out with a tougher-than-it-wants win.

It’ll be only the second time all year Mizzou wins a game after giving up over 200 yards through the air.