Depending on your perspective, Toledo’s offense is either Missouri’s worst nightmare or the perfect developmental opponent.

The Tigers last week allowed a 75 percent completion rate and 8.5 yards per pass attempt to a backup FCS quarterback.

Now they must contend with the best offensive line in the MAC, Alabama transfer Phillip Ely and an offense that gets rid of the ball quickly.

For glass half full, South Dakota State represented an ideal warm-up. The Jackrabbits also got the ball out quickly, testing Aarion Penton and the rest of the Missouri secondary. The Tigers have had a week to learn from the portions of Saturday’s game that weren’t so good before facing a stronger opponent built from a similar cloth.

For glass half empty, Greg Mancz is a 6-foot-5, 300-pound senior center with NFL aspirations. Mancz made numerous preseason first-team All-MAC lists. SB Nation ranked him as the sixth-best player in the entire conference entering the season. Guard Jeff Myers and offensive tackle Josh Hendershot also made Phil Steele’s second-team All-MAC before the season.

“The quarterback has a great quick release, and we’ve got our hands full with that offensive line,” MU defensive coordinator Dave Steckel said, according to the Columbia Tribune.

Ely, a former three-star recruit, won a three-way quarterback competition before the season. The scouting report on Ely is that he’s not a dual-threat quarterback, like Terrance Owens, who played for Toledo in 2013. Ely’s talent is making pre-snap reads. He’s not afraid to try to squeeze passes into tight windows, which could work in favor of Missouri and help keep the turnover streak alive.

Film on Ely is limited, as he threw four passes at Alabama and made his only start last week against New Hampshire, completing more than 70 percent of his passes for 337 yards and four touchdowns. Rivals.com did a nice breakdown of Ely with the Toledo Blade beat writer.

“He looked absolutely in command the other night,” MU safeties coach Alex Grinch said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “He was making checks at the line of scrimmage that you can only assume were at the appropriate time because of what he was able to do with the football.”

Nine different players caught passes for the Rockets in their opener, but Corey Jones and Alonzo Russell are the ringleaders. South Dakota State’s tall receivers presented some issues for Missouri at times, and Russell is 6-foot-4, though Jones is listed at 5-foot-8.

Missouri would love to get a lead, stop the run and force Toledo into third-and-long. If Ely has to hold the ball long enough, Markus Golden and Shane Ray should give the Rockets problems, even though the team has an excellent line for a small-conference FBS team.

“We all like to get sacks,” Tigers defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski said, according to the Columbia Tribune. “But we want to win the game. … Typically with more of the spread offenses, they don’t give up as many sacks because most of their passing game is quick. We just have to play great against the run and do the best we can against the pass.”

Then again, coach Gary Pinkel and the Tigers may want to see how much better the secondary can perform against Ely and this offense.

Kenya Dennis did a nice job starting at cornerback last week for John Gibson (hamstring/knee), but the team will operate with its preseason starters Saturday. The Missouri coaches talked for much of the offseason about how athletic and fast this young secondary is, so it stands to reason the Tigers will be able to surpass Toledo’s receivers in terms of athleticism.

It will be very difficult for Toledo to manage the slight upset (3.5 points right now in Vegas) without creating an advantage with Ely and the passing game. Missouri needs to force a few turnovers, get Toledo into unfavorable down-and-distance as often as possible, and play with better technique in the secondary.

The Tigers are the better team and should win the game. To do so, it needs to play evenly against Ely and Toledo’s passing game.