Thursday's Expert College Football Picks: Nebraska Vs Missouri

The Cornhuskers and Tigers square off in a Thursday night college football matchup in front of a nationally televised audience on ESPN. What should you expect in this one? The Tigers have one of the most prolific offenses in college football and the Huskers have one of the stingiest defenses. Which one will crack remains a mystery, but you can rest assured that this will be a great game in the Big 12. These are two ranked teams and it will be rocking in Faurot Field in Columbia so let’s look at these Thursday Night College Football Picks between the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Missouri Tigers.

Mizzou Tigers: The Missouri Tigers were expected to experience a huge dropoff after losing several players to the NFL last season. Heisman finalist Chase Daniel led the offense for three years and broke every passing record in school history during his time there. When you lose a quarterback of his caliber, you are supposed to have a transition period until you find the next one. Not this year for Missouri. In fact, many are saying that new quarterback Blaine Gabbert is even better than Daniel and he’s only a sophomore. So far all he’s done is throw for 1161 yards, 11 touchdowns, and no interceptions through four games.

In addition to losing Daniel, the Tigers also lost wide receiver Jeremy Maclin to the first round of the draft. To replace him they’ve found Denario Alexander, Jared Perry, and Wes Kemp who have picked up where he left off. This Tigers passing attack is really hard to slow down.

One of the surprising things about Missouri is how strong their defense has been. Going into the first game against Illinois, no one thought they could slow down quarterback Juice Williams. However, the Tigers shut them down and only allowed a total of 7 points on the day.

Nebraska Cornhuskers: The Huskers have transformed themselves into a defensive force. They are currently first in the nation in scoring defense only allowing 7.0 points per game. When you’ve only allowed 28 points total on the season through four games, you know you’re doing something right.

The Huskers come into this game with one loss under their belts at the hands of Virginia Tech. Their offense is starting to click with success running the stretch play and good quarterback play from Zac Lee. If their offense can live up to the reputation that their defense is putting out there, this could be a tough game for Missouri.

Outlook: This game will probably go right down to the wire with a stellar offense going against a superb defense. If you are looking for some Free College Football Picks there is some added drama between these two teams in regards to Blaine Gabbert as well. Gabbert was the number one pro-style quarterback coming out of high school and committed to Nebraska. Then at the last minute he changed his commitment to Missouri and never looked back. The Huskers might be a little bitter over the decision. The Tigers are 4-0 and this will be their first big test on the year. The first game of Big 12 conference play will undoubtedly be one to remember.

Check out Vernon Croy’s Thursday Night College Football Picks this season!