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Missouri is hoping to keep its perfect record intact heading into this weekend’s showdown with Texas A&M, and the Tigers apparently aren’t taking any chances based on the decision to ban a recruiting staffer from practice due to her relation to a player on the Aggies.
The Missouri Tigers are currently ranked #9 in the country after getting off to a 4-0 start, and they’ll be facing their toughest challenge of the season so far against a #25 Texas A&M team that’s boasting a 4-1 record heading into their SEC showdown in College Station on Sunday.
The Aggies are somewhat surprisingly listed as 2.5-point favorites in what is gearing up to be one of the most tightly-contested games on the college football schedule this week, and Missouri will need all the help it can get to gain an edge to keep its College Football Playoff dreams alive with games against Alabama and Oklahoma on the horizon.
Texas A&M has largely relied on its rushing game on offense this season after being forced to turn to redshirt freshman Marcel Reed at QB in the wake of the shoulder injury that’s sidelined Conner Weigman for the past few weeks.
It’s possible Weigman ends up making his grand return on Saturday when you consider he’s currently listed as a game-time decision, but Reed has emerged as a pretty serviceable backup by winning the first three games he’s started.
The contest will also be a bit of a family affair when you consider his sister, Briah Reed, currently serves as the Assistant Director of On-Campus Recruiting for Missouri—a piece of information Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz was apparently unaware of until it was brought to his attention after Marcel led the Aggies to a win over Florida in his first start.
On Wednesday, Drinkwitz praised Briah for the work she’s done for the Tigers during a press conference where he also said she’s “not allowed at practice this week” due to her brother’s affiliation (according to Texas A&M beat reporter Carter Karels, he clarified she will be permitted to attend earlier sessions but will be exiled closer to gameday due to a supposed “conflict of interest”).
I get where Drinkwitz is coming from, but the move also seems like a bit of a slap in the face when you consider he’s essentially saying they don’t trust Reed enough to share inside info with her brother.