The stage is set for Mizzou at Kyle Field.

No. 9-ranked Missouri football travels down to College Station, Texas, for a game against No. 25 Texas A&M at 11 a.m. Saturday, which is set to be the lone ranked matchup of the college football slate this weekend.

The Tigers (4-0, 1-0 SEC) are coming off an idle week after wins over Murray State, Buffalo, Boston College and Vanderbilt. The Aggies (4-1, 2-0) lost to Notre Dame in Week 1 and have since beat McNeese, Florida, Bowling Green and Arkansas.

Here is everything you need to know about Missouri’s next opponent, including the Aggies’ coaching staff, key players and, for good measure, a score prediction:

More: How Missouri football CB Dreyden Norwood, very quietly, has developed into a standout starter

More: Here’s what Texas A&M coach Mike Elko, Aggies QB said about Missouri football before game

Nic Scourton, Aggies’ D-Line are Missouri football’s biggest obstacle

Just ask Arkansas fans: Texas A&M defensive end Nic Scourton is a problem.

Eli Drinkwitz certainly noticed.

“He's a game wrecker,” the MU coach said Tuesday. “Single-handedly won the game for them, in my opinion, versus Arkansas.”

The defensive end transferred to the Aggies from Purdue, where he had 10 sacks last season. He’s off to a pretty handy start in College Station, too, as he’s made 7.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, including three sacks

“Nic Scourton is a heck of a player,” Mizzou quarterback Brady Cook said. … “One thing I've noticed, just the way he reads meshes, quarterback and running back, it happened versus Arkansas a few times. Whether he's mesh-charging, taking the running back, taking the quarterback — it can be confusing. High motor. I mean, the way he pass-rushes, the way he defends the run, the way he defends his zone read, I mean, he's a heck of a player.”

The Aggies are a lot deeper at the position, too. Junior defensive end Shemar Stewart got one of the three forced fumbles the Aggies knocked out against the Hogs. Defensive tackle Shemar Turner was credited for one of eight QB hurries in the game.

Missouri, point blank, probably wins this game if it stops the Aggies from creating havoc in the backfield. But that’s no small task.

Who is Texas A&M’s starting quarterback?

Good question.

If you’re Eli Drinkwitz, it’s Marcel Reed, the redshirt freshman who has started the past three games while the Aggies’ Week 1 starter sat with an injury.

If you’re a Texas A&M staffer, it’s still very much up in the air between Reed and Conner Weigman, who was listed as questionable on the Aggies’ SEC-mandated Wednesday availability report and is a game-time decision.

More: Why Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz expects to see Marcel Reed at QB for Texas A&M

Reed is much more active in the run game, with two 80-plus-yard and three two-touchdown running games in his three starts. Weigman is more of a threat from the pocket but had a disastrous, 12-of-30, 100-yard, two-pick outing against Notre Dame.

The Tigers have mostly been effective in containing mobile QBs against their two Power-conference opponents this season, Boston College and Vanderbilt.

Best guesses, however, suggest Mizzou would rather see the less shifty Weigmann on Saturday morning, which would give them an opportunity to bring pressure more often — a spot we believe to be a strength on this MU team.

Coaching staff

Mike Elko is the new Texas A&M head coach, taking over this season from Jimbo Fisher after two seasons in charge of Duke. He was previously the Aggies defensive coordinator from 2018-21.

Collin Klein is the A&M’s new offensive coordinator. He spent the past seven seasons at Kansas State with the past two as the Wildcats’ play-caller, meaning the Tigers have seen his style in action in each of the past two years.

Jay Bateman is Texas A&M’s new defensive coordinator after spending the past two years at Florida as the Gators’ inside linebackers coach. He previously was the co-defensive coordinator at North Carolina, and before that was the sole defensive play-caller at Army.

Aggies’ run game in good hands

Le’Veon Moss is running for 94.2 yards per game for Texas A&M, which, as a team, puts up more than 230 yards of offense on the ground each outing — the No. 13 mark in the country.

He’ll likely be the focal point of the Aggies’ offense Saturday. Texas A&M has just one receiver, Cyrus Allen, catching more than 40 yards worth of passes per game. With Reed as the starter against in-conference opponents, A&M is throwing at a relatively low rate with approximately 20 pass attempts per game.

That means cutting Moss' production cuts off a good chunk of what Klein and Co. are trying to do.

“(Moss has) got unbelievable physical ability. He always has,” Elko told reporters Monday in College Station. “Then you see him get out in space and run the way he runs, and that's something that, certainly, God gave him. We didn't have a lot to do with that part of it.”

Score prediction: Missouri 17, Texas A&M 13

Both of these defensive fronts are mean-lookin’. Neither offense truly has shifted from second gear, although I’d give the edge to Mizzou on talent and breakout potential. Texas A&M certainly has the ability to do it in front of a home crowd.

But will either of them light the field on fire in potentially the biggest game of their respective seasons to date, and perhaps the most potentially important regular-season game Mizzou has played in a decade? We’re playing the numbers: Missouri 17, Texas A&M 13.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football at Texas A&M: Scouting report, score prediction