Can Barry Odom Dial Up Way to Slow Down Badie?
Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom knows Tyler Badie pretty well.
He was the head coach that recruited Badie to Missouri.
Now, of course, he's on the other side trying to stop him. Last year Badie ran for 81 yards in the Tigers' 50-48 win.
That's the magic number.
When Badie runs for at least 81 yards Missouri is 6-0 this season. They haven't won a game if he doesn't hit that mark.
Odom has to come up with a way to slow him down.
"He’s a very explosive player," Arkansas linebacker Hayden Henry said this week. "I think the thing that’s really different about him is he’s a really big threat in their passing game, as well as their run game.
"They like to get him the ball any way they can. We’re going to need to have eyes on him at all times."
Meanwhile, how does Arkansas approach running the ball this game?
Sam Pittman would probably like to use Dominique Johnson, Trelon Smith, Rocket Sanders and AJ Green because when they all are productive, the Hogs have done well this year.
Missouri knows exactly what the Hogs are going to try to do. It's not exactly a secret.
Maybe another big key is how many of those running backs are healthy enough for this week's game.
A lot of folks were beat-up physically and emotionally in the loss to Alabama last week. Now they've got to turn it around in a short week.
"We got to a point where Dominique had come out banged up a little bit," Pittman said this week. "Rocket is still a little beat up with an injury. Smitty came in."
Now it's Missouri, a game that has been a thorn in the side of the Hogs for the last few years.
"Everyone that stepped out on that field (against Alabama) left everything out there and gave it their all," offensive tackle Myron Cunningham said. "This is another week so we just have to bounce back and get ready for our next opponent and that’s Mizzou.
"We’ve got to take care of business."
Kickoff for the game is set for 2:30 p.m. Friday afternoon and will be televised on CBS and FuboTV.
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