Missouri's Trophy-Type Talent Means Trouble for OSU's Shaky Secondary

Missouri faces its toughest opponent of the year up to date in Oklahoma State this weekend, and one of the key matchups to look for is Oklahoma State's secondary against Missouri's explosive offense, especially its receivers and tight ends.

First, I want to start with a breakdown of Oklahoma State's secondary, which has been anything but stout. The Cowboys don't have any real standouts in their secondary and have four interceptions from four different players in five games.

The secondary had a good showing against Washington State, but Washington States quarterbacks this season have thrown more interceptions than touchdowns, and are going through a quarterback controversy, so it's hard to use that as a determiner of good secondary play.

The next game against Houston, the OSU defense gave up four touchdowns and nearly 400 yards passing, so if they had trouble with that talented passing offense, you can make the comparison to Missouri's passing game, but Missouri's quarterback and weapons are much more of a threat.

The Tigers boast Chase Daniel, a Heisman-caliber passer throwing the ball to a Bilitnekoff-like receiver in Jeremy Maclin and a Mackey-talented tight end in Chase Coffman. Maclin has nearly 500 yards receiving this season and five touchdowns, and with his speed is able to bust a little play loose for six points each time he catches a ball. Coffman is as solid a tight end as you'll find in college football and has over 400 yards and three touchdowns this season.

Just that alone should have the OSU secondary shaking in its boots, without considering that there are four other Missouri players with two receiving touchdowns this season.

Two team stats we have to look for is points per game and penalties. Missouri is averaging over 53 points per game, and this gives no room for error, especially in penalties. Oklahoma State is the 12th-ranked team in penalty yards against, giving up more than 400 this season.

The high-scoring probability of Missouri combined with an undisciplined team could result in a very long day for the Cowboys defense.

Other factors that trickle down to the matchup against Missouri's passing versus Oklahoma State's secondary is the fact all the questions about Missouri's running game have been answered. With Derrick Washington playing solid, the defense of Oklahoma State has to give respect to a good rushing game and, in doing so, free up Missouri's receiving core that much more.

It seems fitting that the Cowboys would be in favor of a shootout against Missouri, but the Tigers have the ability to score each time they get the ball, and it might be hard to keep up. Either way, this should be a high-scoring game with two of the top offenses in the nation, but the factor that might tip the scales is Oklahoma State's secondary, which could beat up severely.

Unless there is a surprising letdown from Missouri on offense, this should be one day to forget for the 'Pokes defense.