NCAA Football

2025-10-18 - Missouri Tigers at Auburn Tigers

A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown

#16 Missouri Tigers @ Auburn Tigers
United States : College Football Week 8
Saturday 18th October 2025 - Scheduled 7:45pm
12:45am (British Time)

Preview

They have won twenty-one games between 2023 and 2024 and the Missouri Tigers (5-1) had made a perfect start to 2025 going into a big 'prove it' game in Week 7 against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

It was a nip and tuck game throughout, but Missouri came up short and they are looking to bounce back in a big road test in the SEC and make sure they keep themselves in contention for a College Football Playoff spot.

The defeat to the Crimson Tide has dropped Missouri to 1-1 in Conference play, but they are facing an Auburn Tigers (3-3) team who will still be wondering how things got away from them in Week 7 against the Georgia Bulldogs. The second half performance has led to some questioning whether a change needs to be made at Quarter Back, while others will point to some questionable first half officiating in the eventual loss to the Bulldogs, and Auburn will go into this game at 0-3 in the SEC.

Another losing season in Auburn is unthinkable, but that is what Head Coach Huge Freeze and the team are facing and fans are not going to be very happy.

A really big problem for the Auburn Tigers has been the inability to establish the run and the Offensive Line are set to face a Missouri team that have been very good up front. Even Alabama failed to average 3 yards per carry against the Missouri Defensive Line and Auburn are not expected to have a lot of joy, which means all eyes will once again be on Quarter Back Jackson Arnold.

He has failed to live up to the expectations and there has been some talk about handing things over to Ashton Daniels, who has started twenty games for Stanford. In that time, Daniels has 21 Touchdown passes, but also 20 Interceptions and so Hugh Freeze has announced he will roll with Jackson Arnold again.

After facing Georgia, this is another very big test for Arnold at Quarter Back and he is likely to be feeling plenty of heat from the Missouri pass rush in this game. The team have not helped by having Jackson Arnold try to pilot the Offense from third and long spots, but he is likely going to have to do that here and Missouri's pressure up front will stall drives.

Credit has to be given to Jackson Arnold for the fact that despite that pressure being faced, he has yet to throw an Interception and Punting is not always a bad thing, even if the fans are going to voice their frustrations around that.

This could develop into a battle of field position and so keeping things clean is key for the home team and especially as Missouri are out on the road for the first time in 2025.

Missouri's Offensive Line did give the team a chance in the loss to Alabama last week and they were able to run the ball with some effectiveness, even if Ahmad Hardy was not able to reach the levels he had prior to the game with the Crimson Tide. With a dual-threat ability from the Quarter Back position, Missouri should feel they can run the ball with some success, even against this tough Auburn Defensvie Line, and that will be important in a tough road environment.

Quarter Back Beau Pribula has been keeping his running numbers down earlier in the season, but made an impact with his legs against South Carolina and Alabama. That will be needed again to keep him out of third and long spots, especially having thrown 5 Interceptions already this season.

Two of those were thrown in the loss to Alabama and it is vital for the Missouri Quarter Back to avoid mistakes in this one. He should be playing with a relatively clean pocket, which will certainly help, and using the legs is important, while also being reminded that a Punt is not a detrimental situation to be in.

Eliah Drinkwitz has proven himself to be a solid Head Coach and his Missouri Tigers are 12-7 against the spread following a loss, while they won't be concerned about being set as road favourites having produced a 6-0 record against the spread in that spot since 2023.

Playing after a big test against Alabama is difficult, but Auburn were battling Georgia in Week 7 and invested plenty themselves to come up short again in the SEC.

Hugh Freeze is 6-3 against the spread playing with revenge with Auburn, but Missouri can do just enough to win this one and maintain their place amongst the top teams in the Conference. They could be the team with a bit more consistency Offensively, and that can show up in this Conference game, although one that will likely go down to the wire.