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Not a bad way to kick off a most highly-anticipated season.
That is, if you enjoy Mizzou beating up on a lowly FCS team in a game that was over by the 10-minute mark of the first quarter. Which, since you’re likely reading this as a Mizzou fan, you probably do!
Look, the only real news from this game is that the season has officially begun. No. 11 Mizzou made quick work of Murray State 51-0 in front of Faurot Field’s sixth-straight sellout crowd. None of that is at all a shock. And if all goes well for Mizzou this season, the entire month of September shouldn’t include any other shocks. This is just the first box checked.
Not to say that their weren’t entertaining moments, though. Luther Burden made an NFL-like cut to shake a defender and walk in for the first score. Toriano Pride grabbed a pick-six to ignite his Mizzou career after transferring from Clemson. Not everything was spectacular; most notably a head-scratching overload play that resulted in a bad pitch to Burden and a Mizzou turnover (somewhere, Tyler Macon is smiling). But since it happened with Mizzou already ahead 28-0, it’ll be a moment that everyone looks back and laughs at anyway (which Eli Drinkwitz did in the postgame presser).
Not much of substance can be taken away from this game, but I’ll try my best in the Knee-Jerk Reactions:
Mizzou owned both lines of scrimmage
No surprise at all. That’s what you look for when you have a talent mismatch like this. The best way for the superior team to assert their dominance is to get consistent push from their linemen on both sides. Mizzou’s offense ran the ball with relative ease (5.1 yards per rush) and didn’t allow a sack. The defense stuffed the opposing run (1.7 yards per carry) and got a couple of sacks. The total yardage disparity was 489-85. The line play from Mizzou created most of that.
It also allowed Mizzou to spread the ball around to a lot of different playmakers. The Tigers had eight different ball-carriers and 11 different players with at least one catch. All five of the running backs on the depth chart got a touch of the ball. Both joint-starters, Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll, got in the end zone. Some younger receivers like Marquis Johnson and Josh Manning got meaningful first-team reps. Newcomers on the defense like Toriano Pride, Corey Flagg, Khalil Jacobs and Chris McClellan came up with big defensive plays. Drew Pyne operated most of the second half at QB. Mizzou built a big-enough lead and then spread the wealth around. Not much else you can ask for.
I’m not all that worried about Brady Cook’s night
It wasn’t his best performance. It didn’t need to be. He went 19-of-30 for 218 yards and a touchdown throw to Luther Burden. We saw the typical throws we’re used to seeing from him. He took a few shots downfield and missed most of them. This time last year, a lot of folks online would be burying him for failing to connect on the open receivers he had in a few moments Thursday night. Now? Not as much.
Sure, it’d be nice to see a few of those home run plays hit against Mizzou’s least talented opponent this season. But let’s not lose what time of year it is. There’s still plenty of time to work out kinks. I’m not saying it’s ok that Cook missed those throws. He needs to be better at it. I think he will be. He showed it last year. I think we can acknowledge Cook’s need to improve the deep ball accuracy without overreacting and saying it’ll never happen this season. If he connects on a few of those throws come conference play, the throws he missed against Murray State in Week 1 will be long forgotten.
Mizzou may have dodged a few injury concerns
Aside from a loss, the absolute worst thing that can happen in a game like this is having a starter get hurt, causing him to miss significant time. There were a few moments in this game that brought a bit of concern to certain players.
Brett Norfleet took a hard shot to the shoulder after making his only catch of the night in the second quarter. He went early to the locker room before halftime and didn’t come back. Theo Wease left early with a hip injury. Even Burden made hard contact with a defender on Cook’s touchdown run, and came up a bit slow.
It seems that none of these moments were serious, though. Eli Drinkwitz said he “wasn’t alarmed by anything afterwards” when asked about Norfleet and Wease after the game. That’s definitely good news for Mizzou, as they try to keep all weapons available this year for their high-powered offense.
And again, the best part about Mizzou getting out to such a fast start was how easy it made pulling guys like Cook, Burden, Noel and other starters from the second half.
Just because it didn’t mean much, doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun
No, this game did not tell us anything about what kind of team Mizzou will be in 2024. But if you’re a fan, it’s ok to enjoy your team beating someone down by 50, no matter who the opponent is.
And this game went a lot better than similar home openers for Mizzou in the past. This was Mizzou’s first shutout in an opening game since 1998. Many recall other less-appealing performances, like giving up 42 points to Missouri State or only beating Abilene Christian by 17. There are others, too. Mizzou started the season as a top-11 team in the country. They played like it Thursday. That should be satisfying.
That being said, it will still be a while before we learn about Mizzou’s ultimate trajectory. At least that’s the hope. Mizzou probably won’t beat Buffalo by 51 next weekend, but it’ll likely be as comfortable a win as this one. Boston College and Vanderbilt will be another step up, but shouldn’t be trouble for the Tigers. Let’s see how Mizzou works on some of their few struggle points as the season gets a week older.
