Missouri 3 Point Underdogs At Home Against Nebraska on Thursday Night

NFL News - October 7th, 2009 - Written by Scott

On Thursday night, No. 21 Nebraska will travel to take on No. 24 Missouri as both teams open up Big 12 play.  Both teams are coming off bye weeks and have had two weeks to prepare for their conference opener.  Missouri (4-0, 0-0) is coming off their 31-21 win against Nevada two weeks ago.  In Nebraska's last game, they routed Louisiana-Lafayette 55-0.  Nebraska (3-1,0-0) was handed their only loss of the season by No. 5 Virginia Tech.  This game will probably come down to Nebraska's defense vs. Missouri's high scoring offense.  If the Cornhuskers can contain the Tiger's explosive offense, it should prove to be a low scoring game. 

The past two seasons, Nebraska's offense has not produced against the Tiger's defense.  They have only scored two touchdowns in their past two meetings with Missouri.  They are averaging 39 points per game this year, but they were held to just 15 in their loss to the Hokies.  The Cornhuskers are also averaging 440 yards per game which is ranked 19th nationally.  The offense is led by quarterback Zac Lee who has 927 yards passing and 7 touchdowns.  Nebraska's rushing attack is anchored by Roy Helu who has 464 yards and five touchdowns in their first four games.  Lee also has a talented group of wide receivers, as four have over 100 yards receiving. 

The defense has been solid for Nebraska this year.  They have improved drastically from a season ago and are only giving up 7 points per game.  In addition, they are leading the nation in scoring defense.  They will receive a great test this Thursday from an up-tempo offense that Missouri possesses.

The explosive Missouri offense is led by quarterback Blaine Gabbert and is averaging 36 points per game this year.  In his first year as the starting quarterback for the Tigers, Gabbert has thrown for 1,161 yards and 11 touchdowns.  Probably the most impressive stat is that he has no interceptions on the year.  Missouri's rushing attack has not caught up to speed with their passing offense yet this season though.  Derrick Washington leads the Tigers with 301 yards and 2 touchdowns.  The receiving tandem of Danario Alexander and Jared Perry have combined for 785 yards receiving and 9 touchdowns.  Missouri will need to get their ground game going to take the pressure off of Gabbert in order to be successful on Thursday. 

Defensively for the Tigers, they have improved greatly from a year ago.  They are not giving up the big plays that haunted them a year ago. For the season, they are only allowing 15 points per game.  

Nebraska will be favored on the road by 3 according to Betus Sportsbook.  The over/under is set at 52.  Missouri hasn't lost at home to Nebraska in their last three games and beat Nebraska last year 52-17.  Nebraska is 4-0 in Thursday night games, but have lost 7 in a row to ranked opponents.

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