No. 19 Mizzou opens up SEC play against No. 24 Mississippi State
STARKVILLE, Miss. (KMIZ)
No. 19 Mizzou football will get its first tase of SEC play under the lights at Davis Wade Stadium, on Saturday night in Starkville.
The Tigers and the Bulldogs are set to kickoff at 6:45 pm CT on SEC Network.
It'll be a clash between unbeaten squads, as both Mississippi State and Mizzou come into Saturday night's game with a perfect, 3-0 mark on the 2026 season. Head coach Eli Drinkwitz and company will come into this one looking for a faster start agains a talented Bulldog squad, as the Tigers got behind early against both Kansas and Troy. In both of those games, Coach Eli and company dug themselves out of that hole and grabbed wins, but that'll much a tougher feat in conference action.
"In general, as an entire team, we need to start better than we did this past week and better than we did against Kansas," Drinkwitz said. "You know, both those games did not start the way we needed to, you know. In Kansas, offense or special teams and then defensively this past game, second play of the game goes for a touchdown. So, I think the whole group's got to understand that we have to start faster and play steadier. If you allow momentum to snowball on you in a game like that, it can get really difficult early."
Mississippi State will come into Saturday night's game with a lot of momentum of its own.
The Bulldogs opened up their season with a 62-13 win over the University of Louisiana-Monroe, and then followed that up with a pair of road wins against Minnesota and South Carolina.
A lot of that success has come due to quarterback Kamario Taylor, who is widely regarded as one of the best in the Southeastern Conference. Taylor leads the conference in touchdowns thrown this season, with 11, and ranks second in the league in yards per game (277).
"I mean, he's great, you know. He can throw it, he can rush, I mean he could hurt us with his arms, his legs, I mean he's really got it all," linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez said. "I've seen he's up there on the Heisman and stuff like that, so I mean it's just a great opportunity for us and we're excited for it. Obviously, limit explosive plays and just play Mizzou defense. I mean, I feel like we do a great job in doing that, so just doing our job one play at a time and executing under pressure."
Taylor is complimented by Mississippi State running back Fluff Bothwell, who is averaging nearly 100 yards rushing per game, with almost six yards per carry.
It'll be the first real, big, test of the season for Coach Drinkwitz and his squad, rolling into a tough environment in Starkville, Mississippi. Kickoff is slated for 6:45 pm CT in Starkville.
ABC 17's Collin Anderson will have live pregame coverage on ABC 17 News at 5 and 6 on Friday night.
