Keys to victory for Mississippi State football vs Missouri

Mississippi State football and Jeff Lebby are in desperate need of a victory. They have a chance at finding one today with Missouri in town. Here's what they must do to pull off the upset...

Mississippi State football needs a four quarter effort on offense

Mississippi State has been solid offensively this season, at times playing well enough on that side of the ball to be competitive against good opponents. But what they've failed to do is put together a four quarter effort offensively. In every game they've played there's been a lengthy stretch in which they haven't gotten anything going, sometimes struggling for entire halves. For as bad as they've been defensively, their inability to play a complete offensive game is a big reason why they're just 2-8. If State is going to pull off the upset, they need to be consistently moving the ball and scoring.

Quarterback Michael Van Buren must return to form

True freshman Michael Van Buren has been impressive since being thrust into action at QB in late September. He both flashed potential and played at a genuinely high level against strong competition this season. Last time out, however, he looked like a freshman. Van Buren was just 10-26 passing for 92 yards and an interception at Tennessee. He was never comfortable in that game. That was a hostile environment against an elite Volunteer defense, but it still wasn't good enough. Missouri isn't nearly as good as Tennessee, but Van Buren will need a performance like the ones he had in earlier in the year for the Bulldogs to win.

The Bulldog defense needs to hold in the redzone

If we're going to give the State defense credit for one thing, it's that (outside of the horrid Arkansas game) they've done an ok job of forcing a handful of big stops for the past month and a half to at least keep games respectable. They'll need that at a minimum against Missouri, and those stops will likely have to be in the redzone. The Tigers don't turn the ball over and are solid on third downs. But in SEC play, their redzone touchdown percentage is just 47.4% percent. When they get in the redzone, they can't finish with touchdowns. State cannot be the team that changes that. Mizzou is going to move the ball. Keep them out of the endzone.