Vitals: Oklahoma at Missouri

Everything you need to know about the Sooners' road trip to Missouri.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:59 am

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Oct 20, 2010 10:53 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners at No. 11 Missouri Tigers
Saturday, Sept. 25, 5:00 p.m. CST
Faurot Field; Columbia, Missouri

Statistical leaders:

	Oklahoma	Missouri
Passing	Landry Jones 162/242, 1,791, 14 TDs, 3 INTs	Blaine Gabbert 151/227, 1,591 yards, 10 TDs, 3 INTs
Rushing	DeMarco Murray 150 carries, 663 yards, 11 TDs	Henry Josey 36 carries, 255 yards, 4 TDs
Receiving	Ryan Broyles 61 receptions, 700 yards, 5 TDs	T.J. Moe 50 receptions, 589 yards, 3 TDs

Injury Report:
Missouri: DE Aldon Smith (leg, questionable); S Jasper Simmons (knee, out); LB Donovan Bonner (undisclosed, out for season); DB Munir Prince (neck, out for season)

Oklahoma: DT Casey Walker (knee, out)

Where to find it?

On TV: ABC

On Radio: Sooners Sports Network

What you need to know?

The Sooners and Tigers are both undefeated, with OU ranked No. 1 and Missouri No. 11 in the initial BCS standings released earlier in the week. While Mizzou has not lost, it has not been seriously tested yet. The Tigers played a terrible out-of-conference schedule and their two conference games were against Colorado and Texas A&M.

While the Sooners have played a significantly more difficult schedule, they also have had trouble against inferior teams. Going into their bye two weeks ago, OU had beaten its previous three opponents by a combined total of just 13 points. But after taking a week off, the Sooners dominated Iowa State in a 52-0 blowout.

OU also owns a huge mental advantage over the Tigers. Bob Stoops has not lost to Missouri since taking over as head coach 11 years ago. The last two times these teams met came in the Big 12 Championship Game in 2007 and 2008; the Sooners won both games by a combined score of 100-38.

Who to watch?

Much like Texas, Missouri’s main goal on defense will likely be to shut down receiver Ryan Broyles. Broyles has shredded defenses this season and is extremely difficult to cover one-on-one. The Tigers will likely devote two defenders to him for most of the game, which means Kenny Stills and Dejuan Miller will need to step up.

Quarterback Blaine Gabbert and the Missouri passing attack will be the best OU has faced this season, but the Tigers are a pure pocket passing team. That makes them easier to prepare for, but harder to defend. Gabbert has a quick release and can fit the ball in tight windows, which will make it difficult for OU to rattle him with blitzes. But if the Sooners can shut down Mizzou’s weak running game and make the Tigers one-dimensional, it should make life easier.