In one week, college football is back in Columbia.

Missouri football will open its 2024 season against Murray State at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 29 on Faurot Field.

Most of Mizzou’s two-deep appears to be settled. Battles at left tackle and along the defensive line appear to be resolved. Head coach Eli Drinkwitz said Tuesday that the team has held meetings to tell the players where they stand. A full depth chart is expected to be made available to the media Sunday, although most of the dust has long been settled.

But there are still a few lingering unknowns to iron out.

Here are the three biggest questions we still have about Missouri football in 2024:

More: Here’s why Eli Drinkwitz said Missouri football fans 'need to sell out' Tigers’ opener

How will Missouri football use its running backs?

This is likely the last jostle for positioning remaining in Columbia.

Appalachian State transfer Nate Noel and Georgia State newcomer Marcus Carroll are the presumed contenders for Missouri’s starting running back role, but there’s been no concrete word on any potential separation in camp.

On Tuesday, Mizzou quarterback Brady Cook offered the clearest picture so far as he said multiple running backs will get touches through September.

“I think by Week 4, we'll kind of know exactly what kind of players they are,” Cook said. “I know Nate's super fast, he's speedy. Marcus has a bigger body and he's physical, but, you know, Marcus is also fast and he's shifty. And Nate has also played up to pass blocking and making his body bigger than it looks.

“I mean, those guys are talented, man. But I'm sure we'll find out pretty quickly (what kind of players they are).”

If forced into a guess on what that means, it would look a lot like this:

Noel and Carroll will split snaps until the first four games are no longer competitive. Mizzou plays Murray State, Buffalo, Boston College and Vanderbilt, all at home, to open the season. Redshirt freshman Jamal Roberts, who has been working frequently with the Tigers’ second-team, ought to see some extended second-half relief reps.

This isn’t uncommon ground for Mizzou. This time last year, eventual All-American Cody Schrader and Nate Peat were expected to split reps in CoMo. Peat actually took more carries than Schrader against Memphis in Week 4. That was not the case by Week 6 and onward, when Schrader rarely left the field.

The Tigers’ opening game may provide some answers, but it looks like the real rotation — or lack thereof — will only become clear by the Texas A&M game in early October.

Is Mizzou deep enough at cornerback?

One room in the Missouri secondary has an abundance of returning reps.

The other … not so much.

“You know, the safety position really has the most experience coming back,” Drinkwitz said Tuesday. … “It's that corner position that we have to continue to find consistency. Probably the (room) that's the most challenging for me, you know, is replacing the two NFL corners.”

Drinkwitz is, of course, talking about losing Ennis Rakestraw Jr. and Kris Abrams-Draine to the league.

Dreyden Norwood appears to be a lock for one corner spot. He was a capable backup after injuries hit Rakestraw last season, and has had among the more promising offseasons, per his coaches.

Clemson transfer Toriano Pride Jr. was the obvious choice to take the other corner role after committing, but recent fall camp reps have painted a different scene. Nicholas DeLoach, a redshirt freshman out of Cahokia, Illinois, has spent significant time working with the first-team.

Marcus Clarke, at this point, likely rounds out the two-deep, a backup role the senior has held since arriving in Columbia.

The starters at corner, unlike the oft-rotating defensive line, will take a bulk of the reps, though. So Mizzou needs whoever fills the CB2 role to be up to the task, and there isn’t a lot of tape to show that as a certainty.

Can kicker Blake Craig be consistently accurate?

Blake Craig, a redshirt freshman, is filling the well-worn cleats of Harrison Mevis.

His task isn’t to be Mevis, although you wouldn’t find many complaining if he does have a 60+-yarder in the locker or finished his career as MU’s all-time leading points scorer. No, Missouri just needs him to be consistent from the should-make ranges.

Part of the Tigers’ success last season came down to how often they scored when entering the red zone — all while not being particularly efficient at scoring touchdowns.

Mizzou walked away with points on 56 of its 58 red-zone trips, the third-best rate in the country. The Tigers’ field-goal rate when entering the red zone (34.5%) ranked eighth in the FBS. Their touchdown rate (62.1%) ranked much lower at 61st. Mevis made 20 field goals from those trips, the second-most of any kicker last year.

If Missouri can get that close-range reliability from Craig, it’ll be job done for the new starter.

He’s had his moments in camp, including a made 48-yarder into a slight breeze that would have cleared the crossbar from 58. He’s also had the not-so-great moments, with multiple misses during live reps on his fall report card.

Drinkwitz has said he liked Craig’s resolve after mishaps in camp. The team could benefit from that heading into the season.

More: Projecting Missouri football's first offensive depth chart of 2024

More: Projecting Mizzou football's first defensive depth chart of 2024

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Mizzou football: 3 questions still facing Tigers as 2024 season nears