Auburn football hopes to begin the resurrection of its season when it travels to play No. 16 Missouri.

Auburn coach Hugh Freeze, coming off a bye, hopes to snap a three-game losing streak entering Saturday's 11 a.m. CT (ESPN/ESPN+) matchup with Mizzou (5-1, 1-1) in Columbia, Missouri.

The game marks the first between the two since 2022, when Auburn (2-4, 0-3) won its SEC opener in overtime. It's Auburn's first trip to Missouri since a 51-14 win in 2017 that saw Kerryon Johnson rush for five touchdowns.

Here is our scouting report on Missouri and a score prediction for the matchup.

More: 'I expect more': Auburn football winless in SEC, desperately seeking redemption after bye

Mizzou football bounced back from Texas A&M beatdown

After a disaster of a performance in a 41-10 loss to Texas A&M, Missouri bounced back last week when it traveled to play UMass. Mizzou won 45-3 against the FBS independent program in Amherst, Massachusetts. Mizzou star receiver Luther Burden III scored less than a minute into the game on a 61-yard run. It was all Mizzou from there.

The win followed the dreadful trip to College Station, where Mizzou trailed 34-0 to the Aggies until early in the fourth quarter. Missouri allowed Aggies quarterback Conner Weigman (18 for 22, 276 yards) to be efficient through the air while also giving up 236 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. Missouri entered the game ranked in the top 10 before leaving with its College Football Playoff hopes on life support.

Against an inferior opponent at UMass last week, Missouri only allowed 237 total yards and forced a pair of turnovers.

Luther Burden is Mizzou's elite WR but shoulder injury in UMass win worth watching

Auburn's secondary will have its hands full when trying to contain Mizzou's potential NFL first-rounder.

Burden is coming off his best game of the season after carrying the ball twice for 68 yards and a touchdown. He also caught the ball five times for 59 yards. He has 31 catches for 398 yards and four scores this season.

However, Burden exited the game in the third quarter due to an apparent shoulder injury. ESPN college insider Pete Thamel reported that the 5-foot-11 receiver was expected to practice this week and be good to go against Auburn.

Mizzou rarely turns the ball over

Mizzou is among the best in the country in an area that has been the downfall of Auburn's play this season.

Missouri ranks second in the country in not committing turnovers, only giving the ball away twice through six games. Auburn is turning the ball over a little more than twice per game.

Mizzou QB Brady Cook is responsible for both turnovers coming in the season's first two weeks. He fumbled in a win over Murray State before throwing his lone interception the next week in a win over Buffalo.

Auburn's been plagued by turnovers but is struggling to force them, too. It's the worst team in the country in turnover margin and has only forced four takeaways.

Score prediction: Mizzou 30, Auburn 21

It's difficult to ignore how great Mizzou is doing in the one area that Auburn does poorly. Missouri's ability to take care of the ball, behind a veteran quarterback, a solid ground game averaging 187.5 yards per game and one of the best playmakers in the country should be the difference here.

Mizzou's still trying to get the bad taste of its loss to Texas A&M out of its mouth when it had high hopes this season. It should be locked in even with Alabama coming up next week.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football vs Mizzou: Scouting report, prediction