Heavily favored No. 20 Missouri wary of winless UMass

For No. 20 Missouri, the heavy lifting appears to be done until next month.

After starting 4-0 with two blowout wins and two closer games against tougher foes in Kansas and South Carolina, the Tigers appear to have a breather on the docket Saturday night when winless Massachusetts comes to Columbia for both teams' last nonconference contest.

But Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz is cautioning about taking things for granted before the bye week.

"The biggest challenge is not to have relief syndrome, right?" he said. "To think because we won an SEC game, that we're going to step out of conference, that you would decline in intensity or loss of focus or complacency.

"That really, for us, is the challenge. Instead, we need to work to improve the process. You see when guys lose, they tweet out ‘back to the lab.' We need to be back to the lab after we win."

Drinkwitz's cautionary words seem like only a spoilsport's rant at this point. The Tigers are 44 1/2-point favorites because they are averaging 46 points per game and facing a team that surrenders 38.7 points per game.

Missouri's 298 rushing yards per game are fifth in FBS and its 554.2 total yards per game are sixth. Running back Ahmad Hardy already has rolled up 600 yards and six touchdowns in four games and averages 7.6 yards per attempt.

Penn State transfer Beau Pribula has completed 72.4 percent of his passes for 962 yards along with eight touchdowns and two interceptions. Mississippi State transfer Kevin Coleman Jr. has become his main target with 27 catches, 278 yards and a touchdown.

The defense has been solid for the most part, though Drinkwitz said concerns arose about the secondary's play during last week's 29-20 victory over South Carolina.

"We have to be the best at what we do, and right now we're trying to be a jack of all trades and a master of none," he said. "That's got to get cleaned up."

Meanwhile, the Minutemen (0-3) have been idle since absorbing a 47-7 beating Sept. 13 at Iowa. They have managed only 43 points this year, 26 in a loss at home against FCS opponent Bryant.

That might be why first-year coach Joe Harasymiak is going to his third quarterback of the season, redshirt freshman AJ Hairston. Utah transfer Brandon Rose has battled injury and Yale transfer Grant Jordan hasn't been able to generate big plays with his arm. That means Hairston, who started three games and played in four last year, gets his chance.

In two relief appearances this year, Hairston has hit seven of 12 passes for 84 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.

"I think he deserves it," Harasymiak said. "He kept pushing forward (and) has been better with his preparation. So I'm looking forward to him getting his chance, getting his start. It's because he put the right things in and the right work over that time period."

Hairston has experience starting against SEC opponents. He got the call last Nov. 23 in a 59-21 loss at Georgia and threw for 121 yards and a touchdown. He made his college debut off the bench Nov. 2 at Mississippi State and hit seven of 11 passes for 62 yards and a score.

This will be the second meeting between UMass and Missouri. The Minutemen hosted the Tigers last October in Amherst and fell 45-3.

--Field Level Media