Missouri Football: Five things to watch vs Tennessee-Martin

Missouri football’s season begins this Saturday when the Tigers welcome in the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks to Memorial Stadium in Columbia. What should MU fans be keeping an eye on?

Another season is about to begin for the Missouri Tigers and it’s a year that has the potential to be pretty special. For one, the Tigers have arguably the best quarterback in all of college football. It’s also the third year under Barry Odom, which means it’s a telling season for  the program.

The first opponent on the 2018 slate is Tennessee-Martin, an FCS team. This is a game that MU should win with ease, but crazier things have happened in the opening weekend of college football.

Here are five things for fans to be watching in Mizzou’s first game of the season.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH VS TENNESSEE-MARTIN

NUMBER 5: TAKE THE SKYHAWKS OUT OF IT EARLY

Last year when the Missouri Tigers opened the season against the Missouri State Bears, it seemed like a very winnable game for the black and gold. Instead, Mizzou allowed MO State to hang around for far too long, with a very close score at the half.

The Tigers defense finally came alive in the second half and were able to shut the Bears down for the most part. Even with the victory, the first half was a scary opening to the season for Tiger fans, who watched a Missouri Valley Conference team hang with their SEC squad for two whole quarters.

Missouri can’t allow Tennessee-Martin to stay in this game at all. MU needs to put up points quickly, tire that Skyhawks defense out, and make sure their own defense doesn’t let TN-Martin get any momentum whatsoever.