Mizzou football vs. Auburn: Five things to know about Tigers’ first road game
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Mizzou visits Jordan-Hare after loss, aims to secure a bounce-back road win.
- Mizzou defensive line will target Auburn QB Jackson Arnold after 21 sacks allowed.
- Mizzou must fix third-down execution against Auburn’s top-30 third-down defense.
It’s not ideal to have your first road game in a packed Jordan-Hare Stadium.
It’s also not ideal to play it while trying to recover from your first loss of the season.
Luckily for the No. 16 Mizzou Tigers, however, Auburn (3-3, 0-3) is in a downward spiral.
Auburn has yet to win an SEC game this season, losing its first three contests of conference play. The home side is in a must-win position — and that is especially true for head coach Hugh Freeze, who is on the hot seat.
Can Mizzou (5-1, 1-1) bounce back and keep Auburn searching for its first conference win?
Here’s what to know ahead of kickoff...
Mizzou vs. Auburn game details
Kickoff: 6:45 p.m. Saturday
Where: Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama
TV: SEC Network
Radio: KMBZ (980) in Kansas City, KCMQ (96.7 or 103.1) in Columbia
Betting line: Mizzou is a 1.5-point favorite.
Over/under: 43.5
Five things to know before kickoff
1. Auburn is without a team captain for the rest of the season. One of the bigger headlines going into Saturday has been the ambiguous departure of Auburn captain and running back Damari Alston. Alston, who was in his fourth season at Auburn, departed the team this week after Freeze said he “failed to meet the standards and expectations of our program.”
Alston’s 2025 campaign was off to a hot start with 84 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries in the season opener against Baylor. But after an injury sidelined him for two games, his production plummeted. He only had nine yards last week against Georgia.
2. Mizzou’s D-line has a prime opportunity. Auburn QB Jackson Arnold has been sacked 21 times this season. That’s tied for second most in the FBS. Mizzou should have a blast getting through Auburn’s offensive line this week.
3. Auburn’s offense has taken a nosedive since starting SEC play. In the first three games of the season, Auburn averaged 37 points per game. Then, the Tigers hit three straight ranked SEC opponents: No. 11 Oklahoma, No. 9 Texas A&M and No. 10 Georgia. In those games, they averaged just 20 points per game.
Auburn is second-to-last in the SEC with 331.3 yards per game.
4. More on Jackson Arnold... He’s in his first season at Auburn after a tough sophomore season at Oklahoma. With the Sooners, Arnold had just a 62.6 completion percentage, throwing for a total of 1,421 yards. So far this year, Arnold has struggled in the new environment, to the point of Freeze being asked if he’d consider making a change at the position.
“Jackson is who we’re going with Saturday,” Freeze told reporters Monday.
Arnold has thrown for 983 yards this season on 106-for-165 passing (64.2%). He’s thrown for five touchdowns.
5. Can Mizzou fix last week’s third-down woes? Mizzou’s offense went an abysmal 1-for-11 on third down against Alabama, despite being fourth in the country in third-down conversion percentage at 55.4%. Auburn’s defense, however, has been great at holding opponents on third down, ranking 11th across college football with a 28.2% conversion rate.
