I think schedule (opponents) obviously have a lot to do with stats and how the game is played.
Mizzou’s offense runs 80.0 plays per game (weak schedule); their defense plays 50.4 plays per game. Going into last week’s games their defensive stop rate ranked 21st in the nation.
Our offense runs 76.6 plays per game; our defense runs 77.4 plays per game. Prior to last week’s slate of games our defensive stop rate ranked 84th in the nation.
Our run defense on a yards per attempt ranks 18th in the nation but 119th for attempts against us per game.
Mizzou’s run defense ranks 10th in the nation for yards per attempt; they are 1st in the nation for fewest runs per game defended. Weak opponents tend to favor the pass over the run but still overall their stop rate is decent.
We’ve played the 5th and 8th best rushing offenses in the conference so far, Mizzou has only played the 16th (the worst) rushing offense in the conference.
Arkansas is ranked as the 2nd best rushing offense in the conference so that may be something to keep an eye on.
Tim Banks previously has put a lot of stock in our defensive stop rate. I think it’s subpar right now aside from the schedule mostly due to perhaps some depletion in the DL ranks due to player availability and more drop off in depth quality than we may have enjoyed in the last couple of years.
Vanderbilt was the 8th most experienced team in the nation coming into the season, 10th on defense; we were 58th overall, 22nd on defense if everyone was healthy which they haven’t been. We’re at the point in the season where talent begins to trump experience. We’re the 16th most talented team; Vandy is 55th.
Arkansas is the 23rd most talented team but their experience on defense was 88th. MSU’s experience on defense was 20th best in the nation. Arkansas’s offense was 39th most experienced. Bobby revamped his defensive staff during the bye week so I’m not sure how that affects them. I think more than likely they’ll still be hobbled on that side of the ball.
On offense I think we’re a bit better plus we’re at home. On defense while our stop rate (#84) could use some improvement going forward, the Arkansas defensive stop rate is at #119. Knife, meet hot butter. jmo.