Checking in on the mid-season temperatures in Columbia, Mo.

HOT

Harold Brantley. There weren’t many positives from last week’s game against Georgia, but defensive lineman Harold Brantley was one of the few. He recorded seven tackles, one sack and two tackles for loss against the Bulldogs and was largely the only consistent presence in the opposing backfield. If Brantley can stay hot, the Missouri front four only becomes more dangerous with a group consisting of Brantley, Shane Ray and Markus Golden.

WARM

Wide receiver depth. For the past few weeks, Missouri has been hurting at wide receiver, thanks to injuries to Darius White and Jimmie Hunt. The absence of those two key receivers really caused some issues for Missouri against South Carolina and only Jimmie Hunt returned against Georgia. This week, Missouri will have both receivers back and fully heathy to compliment starting wideout Bud Sasser, which has to be a huge relief for Maty Mauk, who completes more than 66 percent of his passes to those three guys.

COLD

Maty Mauk. The sophomore quarterback had a great start to the season, but he’s largely been ineffective against SEC opponents. In his two SEC games, Mauk averaged 114.5 passing yards and a 39.1 completion percentage. He’s thrown zero touchdowns and four interceptions. “Mauktober” is looking more and more like a month Mauk would rather forget.

FROZEN

Offensive line. Easily one of the biggest weaknesses for the Tigers last weekend was the offensive line play. Georgia virtually had its way with the Tigers’ hogmollies, constantly pressuring Mauk and limiting the offense to just 147 total yards. With another tough front seven coming up this weekend in the Gators, Missouri’s offensive line will once again be put to the test. If they fail again, Missouri will likely walk away with another loss.