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Kentucky Ranked Right Behind Missouri in ESPN SEC Power Rankings

One thing to watch: Florida quarterback Will Grier ran for 61 yards last week, meaning United Kingdom might have trouble containing Mizzou quarterback Maty Mauk. He has been limited to six carries for 18 yards since, and he sat out the Tigers’ ugly 9-6 win over Connecticut.

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COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – The Missouri defense is doing its job.

He was kind enough to go Four Downs with The Star, so be sure to check out Hale’s work ahead of Saturday’s game for some Wildcats perspective and give him a follow on Twitter.

The University of Missouri has been quite successful since moving to the SEC in 2012, winning 31 games and bulldozing their way to two SEC Championship games (losses to Auburn and Alabama).

Missouri: WLB Kentrell Brothers has been all over the place for the Tigers with a nation-leading 42 tackles, including three for loss.

A fully healthy Hansbrough make a major difference.

The offense is coming off its lowest scoring total since 1978, beating UConn 9-6 last week after entering as three-touchdown favorites.

-DT Terry Beckner Jr., a true freshman, has earned the first start of his Missouri career.

“I think that’s what he was probably trying to say, just being uptight”, Stoops said.

If you thought it couldn’t get any worse for the Wildcats, they picked Mississippi State to be their homecoming game. “If we’re not blocking the guys and opening up holes, we know it. That’s our mentality – put it on our shoulders and we’ve got to play better”. “Sometimes we don’t play our best early, sometimes we don’t play our best late”.

The Tigers had similar struggles past year, when Missouri gained just 546 yards combined in its first three games of Southeastern Conference play – including a 20-yard passing performance against Florida.

Missouri will come into Commonwealth Stadium with a 3-0 record and looking for its first SEC win.

Certainly, Hansbrough’s availability and health are a big storyline, even for the Wildcats, but for more on Kentucky’s perspective we enlisted the help of Jon Hale, the new football beat writer for the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Not great considering the Gators Will Grier carved out 60 yards rushing. Henson said they wouldn’t have gone to Lock unless they believed in him for that situation. “Getting him back will be a boost”.

“It was a big game”, Dawson said.

ESPN released their updated SEC Power Rankings a couple of days ago and Kentucky is ranked right behind Missouri at #11. The Gamecocks average 19.7 points, while the Tigers average 23.3.

“We don’t know yet until he starts practicing this week”, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said.

Mauk said he also realizes there’s much he can improve upon. How many carries Williams gets remains to be seen, but he’s showing he can run the ball fast and often. I take nothing away from them; I think they had a lot to do with that, especially defensively. On Monday, OC Josh Henson made more sense: They wanted to get Lock a series in the second half but pulling the trigger comes down to a collective gut feeling by Henson, Pinkel and QB coach Andy Hill.

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“It’s not a distraction at all”, Mauk said.

Missouri quarterback Maty Mauk warms up before the start of an NCAA college football game against Connecticut Saturday Sept. 19 2015 in Columbia Mo