Missouri football vs. Buffalo: Scouting report, score prediction for Week 2 game

Two games, two sellouts.

The Mizzou athletic department announced Thursday morning that tickets for Missouri football’s Week 2 game against Buffalo on Saturday evening in Columbia have sold out, meaning the Tigers ’ first three games of the season are now set for capacity crowds. Missouri’s game against Boston College in Week 3 also has been announced as a sellout.

MU started off its season Thursday, Aug. 29, with a 51-0 win over Murray State. To make it two wins from two games, the top-10-ranked Tigers face Buffalo (1-0) on Faurot Field.

For the second straight week, the Tigers are facing a team with a new head coach. This time around, though, Mizzou has the benefit of having seen the Bulls’ starting quarterback on Faurot Field before.

Here is a scouting report and score prediction for Mizzou’s Week 2 opponent:

More: Meet Blake Craig, Missouri football’s successor at kicker for Harrison Mevis

More: Why building competitive depth is top of Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz's mind

Who is the Buffalo Bulls’ starting quarterback against Missouri football?

Missouri has seen the Bulls’ starting quarterback, CJ Ogbonna, once before.

Ogbonna was the starter for Southeast Missouri in 2021, and he found a little bit of joy that day. The then-Redhawks QB ran for 99 yards on 12 carries in a 58-24 MU win, although it should be noted that only seven teams in the FBS had a worse rush defense than the Tigers that season.

Now, Ogbonna is quarterbacking the Bulls in the MAC. He’s off to a 1-0 start, too, after throwing for 195 yards and a couple touchdowns in a 30-13 win over Lafayette (Pa.) on Saturday.

That was a good passing outing for the QB, and the key to countering it from MU cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. was that the Tigers can’t “let them throw the easy-access throws.”

But Ogbonna’s real threat is with his legs, which will be a new look for Corey Batoon’s defense to overcome after facing a Murray State QB who didn’t venture far from the pocket.

“That's gonna be the challenge this week,” Drinkwitz said. “Obviously, we've got to do a good job in the read game. They try to get on your edges through zone reads, plus-one run schemes and option, so we're going to have to be disciplined and multiple in the way we're challenging those read-schemes.”

Reigning MAC defensive player of the week

The sternest test of the young season for Missouri’s offensive line will come in the form of linebacker Sean Dolac, who was named the MAC defensive player of the week for his Game 1 performance.

Dolac racked up 11 tackles against Lafayette, which included a sack as part of two tackles for loss. He also picked off a pass as the Bulls won their opener.

“You can tell he studies tape,” Drinkwitz said. “You can tell he's a very smart, physical player at the point of contact. They utilize him in the box, out of the box, they pressure with him. So he's a really good player, it's going to be a real challenge for us.”

Dolac is a former walk-on with the Bulls, and has 37 career appearances. After a good opening-game showing, Mizzou’s offensive line is getting the kind of test it might see later down the line in 2024, per the Tigers’ head coach.

“He's consistent with what you see in our league,” Drinkwitz said. “He's a guy that as we work off combo blocks, we're going to have to make sure we can get to him, otherwise he'll make the tackle. And we're going to have to know where he is in pass coverage and not make a mistake with the ball, because he’s got really good hands.”

Another former Gamecock head coach

Pete Lembo, who Drinkwitz called one of the “great program rebuilders,” took over Buffalo this offseason after three years as South Carolina’s special teams coordinator.

It’s the second straight week Mizzou will face an opponent with a former Gamecocks assistant as a first-year head coach, after Murray State and former USC tight ends coach Jody Wright visited Columbia last week. This time around, Drinkwitz is expecting to see some of Lembo’s special teams fingerprints that have “given us fits” show up.

“Special teams, I feel pretty good about knowing some of the things that he can't do,” the MU coach said. “It's just a matter of when he's going to do it.”

The Bulls’ offensive coordinator is Dave Patenaude, who Drinkwitz, while he was the offensive coordinator at NC State, said he talked football with on several occasions. Patenaude returns to offensive play-calling duties after a season as an analyst at Virginia. His former stops as an OC have come Georgia Tech and Coastal Carolina, among others.

Buffalo hired Miami-Ohio assistant Joe Bowen to his first defensive coordinating role this offseason.

Score prediction: Missouri 48, Buffalo 7

This is a step up in competition for Missouri, but the picture the Tigers painted in Week 1 didn’t have many flaws. The one minor grievance was that the deep ball wasn't connecting.

With this cast of playmakers, don't expect that to happen again. The Tigers should make it two comfortable wins from two games.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football vs. Buffalo: Scouting report, score prediction for Week 2 game