Ranked No. 11 in this year's Associated Press Preseason Poll under fifth-year head coach Eliah Drinkwitz, the Tigers will open on home turf for the fifth-straight season and for the seventh time in the last eight years.
Mizzou has claimed victories in each of its previous two meetings with Murray State. The Tigers earned a 47-7 win in the initial matchup of the series September 2, 2006 at Memorial Stadium. QB Chase Daniel threw for 320 yards and five touchdowns in his first start as a Tiger, including two long scoring strikes to WR Will Franklin. In the most recent meeting of the two programs, RBs Henry Josey (113) and Russell Hansbrough (104) each topped the 100-yard rushing mark on August 31, 2013. The decisive 58-14 victory for the Tigers kicked off a program-best 12-win 2013 campaign that culminated in an SEC East Division title and Cotton Bowl victory.
GAME NOTES
Eliah Drinkwitz has compiled the best home winning percentage (.741; 20-7) among all Mizzou football coaches with at least four years at the helm.
The Tigers are coming off an 11-2 season that culminated in a 14-3 Cotton Bowl victory over Ohio State and a consensus No. 8 ranking in the 2023 final national polls.
Mizzou is 87-42-5 all-time in season opening contests, winning 23 of its last 27 openers.
The Tigers are 97-32-4 in home openers, including a 3-1 mark under Drinkwitz and a 67-28-3 overall mark on Faurot Field.
Mizzou returns eight starters on the offensive side of the football in 2024, including its top five receivers from last fall; that group accounted for 92-percent — or 3,138 yards — of the Tigers' receiving yards in 2023.
The Tigers' top receiver, Luther Burden III, was a First-Team AP Preseason All-America selection, in addition to being named to watch lists for the Biletnikoff, Maxwell, Walter Camp and Paul Hornung Awards.
The 2024 roster features 32 players who have started at least four games at the FBS level in their collegiate careers.
Mizzou has won 16 straight non-conference games at Memorial Stadium, dating to October 21, 2017.
BLUEGRASS BATTLES
Missouri's all-time record against schools from the state of Kentucky stands at 9-8 entering Thursday's contest.
This season marks the 12th straight year the Tigers will square off against at least one opponent from the Bluegrass State.
MU is 2-0 all-time vs. the Racers, to go along with a 5-9 mark against Kentucky, and wins vs. Louisville and Transylvania in its only meetings against those programs.
There are no athletes from Kentucky on Mizzou's roster, but Murray State's roster includes seven athletes from the Show-Me State: RB Kevin Emmanuel (St. Louis, Eureka HS); OL Ashton Flinn (Jackson, Jackson HS); DL Jerome Logan (St. Louis, CBC HS); OL Jonah Logan (St. Louis, Vashon HS); PK Kyle Parini (St. Louis, Parkway West HS); DB KaVan Reed (St. Louis, East St. Louis HS); DB Trace Ruckman (Wildwood, Eureka HS).
POLL POSITION
For the first time since 2015, the Tigers enter the season ranked among the nation's top 25 squads, checking in at No. 11 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches preseason polls.
Missouri's preseason position in the rankings represents its best since the 2008 season, when the Tigers were tabbed No. 6 in the AP preseason poll.
MU's No. 8 final ranking last fall marked its highest postseason finish since being voted No. 5 in both the AP and Coaches polls in 2013.
IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME
Mizzou drew 421,184 fans through the Memorial Stadium turnstiles last fall, marking the Tigers' fifth-best single-season mark and MU's top season total since drawing 456,996 fans in 2014.
Attendance rose 10.4-percent from 2022 (381,677) and 29.4-percent from 2021 (325,614).
The Tigers will enter the 2024 campaign with a five-game sellout streak after averaging 60,169 fans per game over their final five home dates last year.
Mizzou's five-game sellout streak marks the program's longest since 1980.
PAVING THE PATH
Missouri's offensive turnaround in 2023 would not have been possible without the standout collective effort of its veteran line.
This year's O-Line unit returns three starters —Cam'Ron Johnson, Armand Membou and Connor Tollison — with each starting a minimum of 12 games last fall.
The Tigers' OL unit figures to be one of the most experienced in the nation, with a combined 104 career starts to its credit entering the season.
Last year, the Tigers averaged 434.3 yards per game, which ranked 28th in the nation.
All-American Cody Schrader led the nation in rushing yards per game (125.2 ypg), totaling a program-record 1,627 yards on the ground.
Mizzou's red zone offense also clicked, putting points on the board in 56-of-58 trips inside the 20-yard line to rank third among all FBS offenses nationally.
DEATH ROW DEFENSE
Mizzou's defense was a driving force behind the Tigers' 11-2 campaign last fall, as the 'Death Row Defense' has been one of the SEC's top turnaround stories over the past two seasons.
The Tigers allowed just 336.1 total yards per game, marking the second straight season Mizzou's defense has finished among the top 35 units in the nation for total defense.
The Tigers allowed just 20.8 points per outing to rank No. 20 among all FBS teams in scoring defense, as well as No. 10 nationally in turnover margin (0.77).
NEXT MAN UP
Despite the loss of five NFL draftees on the defensive side of the ball, Mizzou figures to rely on an experienced roster to keep its defensive momentum rolling in 2024.
Key to those efforts will be the work of a defensive backfield that will welcome back three regular starters from a year ago — S Daylan Carnell, S Joseph Charleston and CB Dreyden Norwood — and a supporting cast that has helped the group rack up a combined 87 career starting assignments.
Charleston finished the 2023 campaign as the Tigers' second-leading tackler with 61 total stops with a team-high 38 solo tackles.
Carnell logged 51 total tackles last fall and enters his fourth year as a Tiger with four career interceptions; his seven passes broken up in 2023 were second on the club, trailing only Kris Abrams-Draine's 13 PBUs.
Carnell has returned an interception for a touchdown in each of the last two seasons.
