Mizzou Football: Five things to watch vs Alabama Crimson Tide

Dec 6, 2014: Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Amari Cooper (9) cuts behind the block of offensive lineman Austin Shepherd (79) during the second quarter of the SEC Championship game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Missouri Tigers at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta,GA. (Photo by Jim Dedmon/Icon Sportswire/Corbis via Getty Images) /

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Nate Anderson (29) defensive lineman of Missouri (Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH VS ALABAMA

NUMBER 4 – STEP IT UP, D

Going along with the last point, the MU defense really needs to up its game like it never has before. We saw the Tigers pitch dominant defensive outings in their first two games, but that’s easy to do when you’re facing UT-Martin and Wyoming.

Once Mizzou started getting tougher opponents and therefore, tougher offenses, their defense stopped playing well. They got shredded by David Blough of Purdue, Jake Fromm of Georgia basically had his way with them, and Michael Scarnecchia, backup quarterback for South Carolina, was even able to pick the Tigers secondary apart.

It’s one thing to give up chunk plays (especially in college football), but Missouri hasn’t been forcing turnovers and that’s a problem. If they let Tagovailoa do whatever he wants against them on Saturday, it’s going to be a long, long day for the black and gold.

Missouri didn’t get killed on the ground last week, but they did surrender over 120 rushing yards. Alabama has a chance to really crush them with the run game, so stopping that will be crucial as well.

In other words, Mizzou’s defense can’t be playing how it has the last three games or the Tigers are going to be out of this one before the whistle even blows.

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