MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It's West Virginia-Missouri this afternoon at 62,000-seat Memorial Stadium.
 
The header for Missouri's 2019 football game notes says "Showtime" and we're going to see what type of show these two teams put on.
 
West Virginia is coming off a 20-13 home victory while Missouri lost 37-31 at Wyoming. It was a stinging loss for a Tiger team many believed was second best in the SEC East. 
 
The Tigers had a nearly two-to-one advantage in total yardage and a 28-to-16 edge in first downs against the Cowboys, but yardage and first downs don't win football games.
 
The only stat column that counts is the "For" and "Against" and West Virginia coach Neal Brown is hoping his "For" is greater than their "Against." Still, Brown would like to see his Mountaineer defense do a little better job than Wyoming's in slowing down Tiger quarterback Kelly Bryant, who passed for 423 yards and two touchdowns.
 
"The thing that sticks out is they threw the ball very well," Brown said earlier this week. "They had a bunch of big plays."
 
As for Missouri's defense, which was gouged to the tune of 297 yards on the ground, Brown says Wyoming's scheming had a lot to do with that.
 
"I thought Wyoming, offensively, did a lot of motion and shifts and got some numbers in the run game and was able to take advantage of it," he explained. "I think Wyoming's quarterback (Sean Chambers) is a really good athlete. He could run and he broke some tackles. That was kind of the story of the game … and Missouri turned the ball over. I think we will see a much different team in Columbia (today)."
 
A noon kick off has been assigned for today's game, which will be televised nationally on ESPN2 (Roy Philpott, Kelly Stouffer and Lauren Sisler).
 
The Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College radio coverage begins bright and early at 8:30 a.m. with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show on affiliates throughout the state and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app WVU Gameday.
 
Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning will take over with regular network coverage beginning at 11 a.m.
 
Here is today's Countdown to Kickoff:
 
10 – TEN Missouri players made their Tiger debuts in last Saturday's game against Wyoming.
 
9 – NINE different Tiger players caught passes against the Cowboys.
 
8 – West Virginia comes into today's game with just EIGHT players possessing at least 10 game's worth of career starting experience. Senior left tackle Colton McKivitz leads the way with 36 career starts.
 
7 – Today's contest will be the SEVENTH overall meeting between these two longtime college football programs. The last time West Virginia played in Columbia, Missouri, was 25 years ago on Oct. 1, 1994.
 
6 – West Virginia has produced SIX defensive and special teams touchdowns over the last two years.
 
5 – FIVE offensive players had more than 60 snaps of playing time against James Madison last Saturday, according to West Virginia's game notes.
 
4 – The Mountaineer defense produced FOUR sacks against James Madison last Saturday, or 14 percent of their output of 29 for the entire season in 2018.
 
3 – THREE true freshmen saw action for West Virginia in last Saturday's game against James Madison – Nicktroy Fortune, Jordan Jefferson and Tykee Smith.
 
2 – Current Mountaineer offensive lineman Chase Behrndt and 2017 cornerback Corey Winfield are the only TWO players who hail from the state of Missouri to earn a football letter at WVU.
 
1 – West Virginia has forced at least ONE turnover in each of its last 12 games dating back to last year, including three in last Saturday's win over James Madison.
 
Enjoy today's game and be sure to stop back afterward for complete postgame coverage.