Opponent preview: Missouri’s offense

STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Mississippi State football team will close out the regular season on Saturday at home against the Missouri Tigers. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT and will air on SEC Network Alternate.

Missouri’s offense is ranked seventh in the Southeastern Conference in average yards per game, sixth in passing offense, 10th in rushing offense and seventh in scoring offense.

Through nine games, the Tigers have averaged 269.7 yards passing and 139.0 yards rushing for a total of 408.7 yards per game. They produce an average of 26.1 points per game.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Connor Bazelak has completed 196 of his 286 passes for 2,141 yards and five touchdowns. He has done a good job at limiting his turnovers, throwing just three interceptions. The three interceptions tie him with Alabama’s Mac Jones for the second fewest (minimum 100 attempts) in the SEC behind Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond with two.

The Tigers have a quartet of players with at least 300 yards receiving on the season. Graduate receivers Keke Chism and Damon Hazelton have made 29 catches for 394 yards receiving and 27 catches for 364 yards receiving and a TD, respectively. Junior running back Tyler Badie has added 25 receptions for 314 yards receiving and two TDs, while junior receiver Jalen Knox has 305 yards receiving on 31 catches.

Rushing is not a strength for Missouri, as the Tigers rank 91st in the country with 139.0 yards rushing per game.

Senior running back Larry Rountree III has carried the ball 184 times for 851 yards rushing and 12 TDs. Seven of his 12 TDs this season have come in the past three games. His season has been rather inconsistent, though, as he has rushed for under 100 yards in five of his nine games.