Missouri Tigers football at No. 25 Arkansas: Kickoff time, prediction, odds, TV info

Lila Bromberg
·2 min read

THE DETAILS

Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. Central time Friday

Where: Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville, Arkansas

TV: CBS

Radio: KMBZ (98.1 FM)

The line: Arkansas by 14.5

Mizzou injuries: DB Shawn Robinson, DB Ish Burdine, OL Bobby Lawrence, DB Chris Shearin, out; DB Akayleb Evans, TE Daniel Parker Jr., OL Hyrin White, RB Elijah Young, questionable

PREDICTION

Missouri has won its last five meetings with Arkansas in the Battle Line Rivalry, but the Tigers (6-5, 3-4 SEC) enter as big underdogs on the road with the Razorbacks (7-4, 3-4 SEC) ranked 25th in the nation.

The Mizzou defense has played its best football of the season over the last two games, holding both South Carolina and Florida under 100 rushing yards, but the unit will surely be tested this Friday. Arkansas ranks second in the SEC and 14th in the country in rushing offense, currently averaging 222.3 rushing yards per game, and it is one of just two FBS teams with four running backs who have more than 400 rushing yards this season.

The Razorbacks also feature an impressive pass game, which ranks 11th in the nation in efficiency. They rarely make mistakes either, best in the Power 5 with just eight total turnovers lost on the year.

The Tigers’ offense didn’t look great last week, but they managed to get the job done to pick up two consecutive wins. They only converted 4 of 16 third downs against Florida, which will need to improve against an Arkansas team that ranks 15th in the country in third down defense (32.5%).

Also of note: Tyler Badie is 21 yards away from tying Brad Smith for the second-most rushing yards in a single season in Missouri program history and 193 yards away from tying Devin West for first all-time at 1,578 yards. If he can come close to reaching that top mark in this game, it’ll certainly help the Tigers’ efforts.

Though Mizzou has dominated this rivalry in recent years, doing so on the road against an impressive Arkansas squad is a tough task. I think this is a close game, but the Razorbacks are able to pull out the victory.

Arkansas 31, Missouri 28