The Missouri Tigers will be without their starting quarterback James Franklin this coming Saturday as the team goes for their first SEC victory against the visiting Kentucky Wildcats, according to Dave Matter of the Columbia Daily-Tribune. For a program in need of a win, it's not the dose of good news that Gary Pinkel and company were hoping for.

Then again this entire season has been a frustrating one for Franklin, who is dealing with a knee injury. The dual threat quarterback was expected to bring Missouri's dynamic offense into the SEC in style, but instead it's been an uphill climb for all involved.

Corbin Berkstresser will instead get the start for the Tigers, and he's been the sort of inconsistent presence expected from a first-year starter coming into such heavy competition. Berkstresser looked solid against Arizona State in the Tigers' win there, but he clearly was outmatched against Alabama. Then again, there's no way of knowing whether Franklin would have fared any better.

In 2012 so far, Franklin is 73 of 119 for 805 passing yards and 4 touchdowns.