Missouri travels to Reno to take on Nevada on Friday night. Online sportbooks and Vegas books have Missouri favored by 7 with a total of 61.5. Hotel casinos favored by traveling Show-Me-Staters should be carrying the game at 7.5 if they know what they’re doing. These teams played in Columbia last September and it wasn’t pretty for the Wolf Pack. The Tigers rolled 69-17 on yardage of 651-362. It was men vs. boys athletically as you can see in the rockin’ highlights.

Granted, Missouri lost a ton of talent to the draft. But Mizzou wiped out a highly touted Illinois team in their opener, which they followed up with a dangerously close win over Bowling Green and a solid win over 1-AA Furman. New QB Blaine Gabbert has 8 TD’s and no interceptions. He’s gotta be licking his chops when he watches the Nevada secondary on film. The Wolf Pack are allowing over 12 yards per pass attempt in their two games.

Nevada was completely outclassed against a Notre Dame club that had no athletic edge in subsequent games against Michigan and Michigan State. After a week off the mistake-prone Wolf Pack lost at Colorado State 35-20 despite outgaining CSU. An 0-8 turnover disadvantage in their two losses defines Nevada’s season thus far. Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick seemingly peaked as a freshman, and is struggling in his third year in the pistol offense, with only 1 TD pass and 4 INT’s. His longest completion is for 32 yards and he’s averaging only 6.5 yards per pass attempt.

Warm, dry, windless weather is expected in Reno, with temps falling from the 80’s into the 70’s during the game. Northern Nevada’s not the easiest place to roll into and play, and altitude could become an issue. But despite the loss of talent that fueled their success the past couple of years, Mizzou appears to have some significant matchup advantages. Good luck if you decide to do anything with this game.