COLUMBIA, Mo — For the fourth week in a row, Missouri should win its football game. That’s no stretch or hot take. The No.
7 Tigers, at 3-0, host 2-1 Vanderbilt on Saturday to open Southeastern Conference play. As has been the case in the past three games, Mizzou is favored and expected to win comfortably. It’s important that MU does that, not just for its eventual hope of landing among the 12 teams that make the College Football Playoff, but in the short term, too.
Missouri will probably be the favorite in most of its games this year. But after this one, the Tigers will have to take their show on the road. Margins shrink in enemy confines.
Mistakes that can be erased by the confidence of home field advantage stick out like blaze orange in the woods within opponents’ stadiums — but that’s a story to be written before Mizzou’s game October 5 at Texas A&M. In the meantime, MU has a valuable opportunity to clean up its act before some of the season’s biggest tests arrive. Perfect football likely won’t be required to beat the Commodores on Saturday — Georgia State pulled off a W over Vandy last weekend, which is telling.
But steps toward that idealized version of what Missouri can be are important this weekend. “It’s gonna be a real challenge for us,” coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “And really, it’s not about our opponent.
It’s about us and our approach and how much better we can improve, how much more disciplined and consistent we can be in all three phases and the ownership that we take of that.” It boils down like this. Mizzou’s offense got the rushing attack to hit full speed last week against Boston College.
Running back Nate Noel picked up 121 yards on the ground, feasting on outside zone play calls, while Marcus Carroll ran for 57 yards to round out the tandem. Quarterback Brady Cook ran for a touchdown for the sixth consecutive regular season game, dating back to last season. But it took a while for that to ignite.
Against the Eagles, Missouri’s first 27 offensive plays produced six points — only for the next 18 plays to net 13 points. Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III celebrates after making a key first down in the second half of the Tigers’ victory over Boston College on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Columbia, Mo.
And penalties, including two after the play on wideout Luther Burden III, created some novel and sub-optimal situations. “For us, offensively, there’s a lot of things to correct,” Drinkwitz said. “Starting with a slow start, lack of execution in the red zone, having to kick two field goals and a punt in the first (three drives) — field goal, punt, field goal.
Penalties, I’ve never seen second-and-59 and I hope to never see that again.” While the Tigers went field goal-punt-field goal to open the game, Boston College went touchdown-punt-touchdown. It was also a slow start before the MU defense buckled down to greatly restrict BC’s attack and snag two interceptions.
Mizzou coaches have used that as proof of why the margins matter. “Five plays can get you beat on defense,” Drinkwitz said. “If 10 people do things right but one messes up on five plays, you give up explosive plays that get you beat.
We had critical busts in critical situations that we have to fix.” Vanderbilt has a legitimate playmaker in quarterback Diego Pavia, who can become a downhill runner while slinging the ball as needed. If Mizzou’s defense does have a breakdown, his past performances suggest he’s the type of player who can notice and capitalize.
However, the talent advantage is squarely with Missouri. Saturday will also be a test of whether the Tigers show that. Last week, Burden crossed the 100-yard threshold for the first time this season, catching six passes for 117 yards.
But his usage remains below its peak — there were only five games in 2023 in which Burden had six or fewer receptions. Cook has now thrown for 300 or more yards just once in his last 10 games — though some, in fairness, were shortened outings because of blowouts. Those numbers don’t matter for much more than awards cases, but they do show that Missouri has numerical room to grow, if nothing else.
The Tigers have a bye on the other side of Saturday’s matchup with Vandy before an October gauntlet that includes three road games and three games against SEC opponents. That slate will put Mizzou in situations it hasn’t yet experienced this season while winning rather comfortably at home. But before then, there’s a chance to do some polishing in pursuit of perfection — or at least get rid of the penalties that create a second-and-59 to gain.
“That’s the focus for us this week,” Drinkwitz said. How golf and work with Harrison Mevis prepared Mizzou kicker Blake Craig for starting role Mizzou QB Brady Cook is releasing passes quicker. What does that mean for the Tigers? Meet Jack Foster, the Mizzou fan who saved TV anchor Peter Burns' life at Columbia restaurant.
