Missouri Rolls to 52-24 Victory in Season Opener

COLUMBIA, Mo. – If a Broadway show had as many stunning debut performances as the Missouri Tigers displayed on Faurot Field Thursday night, critics would surely proclaim it a smash hit.

Newcomers Luther Burden III, Joseph Charleston, Cody Schrader, Ty’Ron Hopper and Nathaniel Peat, among others, made significant contributions as the Tigers (1-0) beat the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (0-1) 52-24 to open the 2022 football season.

Schrader, Charleston and Burden each scored their first touchdowns at Mizzou, propelling the Tigers to a 24-10 halftime lead. Schrader scored first on a five-yard run to put MU up 7-3, capping a 41-yard drive that was kept alive by a 18-yard reception by Barrett Bannister on a third-and-10. It made him just the third Tiger to catch a pass in five seasons, joining Lamont Downer (1974-78) and George Shorthose (1980-84).

Moments later, Charleston intercepted a Matthew Downing pass and returned it 29 yards for a score. Hopper and Jaylon Carlies also intercepted passes in the first half – the first time Missouri had three picks in the first half of a game since 1982 vs. Colorado State. Hopper led the MU defense with six solo tackles including a nine-yard quarterback sack on a third-down play that snuffed out a Louisiana Tech drive in the second quarter.

After Tech closed to within 21-10 on a quick slant pass that Griffin Hebert took 75 yards to the end zone, Burden, the much-heralded freshman from St. Louis, scored on a swing pass behind the line from Brady Cook, breaking four tackles on his path to paydirt. In the third quarter, he scored again on a one-yard run out of the Wildcat formation. The play before, also lined up behind center, he handed to Dominic Lovett who dashed and weaved 18 yards to set up Burden’s score. Burden finished with 31 rushing yards on four carries and caught two passes for 12 yards.

Louisiana Tech missed a 50-yard field goal with 34 seconds left in the second quarter, but Missouri wasn’t through. Cook moved the Tigers 53 yards on four plays to set up a 31-yard field goal by All-American kicker Harrison Mevis with four seconds left. Tauskie Dove caught two passes that covered the drive’s final 39 yards.

In the third quarter, Cook was marching the Tigers towards another touchdown when a tipped pass was intercepted inside the 20-yard line by Maki Carabin. It was Cook’s first career interception on his 89^th passing attempt. Only Brad Smith (95) and Blaine Gabbert (160) threw more passes to start their careers without an interception.

But the next time Missouri had the ball, Cook bounced back, capping a 50-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown run. For the game, Cook completed 18 of 27 passes for 195 yards and rushed seven times for 61 yards.

The Bulldogs responded with a 64-yard TD pass from Parker McNeil to Cyrus Allen to move to within 38-17, but the Tigers marched 72 yards right back down the field with Nathaniel Peat covering the final 35 for his first Mizzou touchdown run.

Backup QB Jack Abraham directed Missouri’s final scoring drive, moving the Tigers 73 yards in 12 plays with B.J. Harris bulling the final two yards for a TD.

Louisiana Tech closed out the scoring with 0:50 remaining when McNeil, operating against Missouri backups, connected with Allen for a 37-yard TD pass.

The Tigers rolled up 557 total yards, including 328 on the ground. Peat led the running attack with 72 yards on eight carries and Schrader added 70 yards on 17 attempts. Nine players carried the ball for Missouri, the most for the Tigers since a 52-17 win over Iowa State in 2011.

Missouri’s defense limited Louisiana Tech to 337 total yards – just 11 of which came on the ground – and 176 of its yards came on three plays. On their other 64 plays, the Bulldogs averaged just 2.7 yards.

UP NEXT

The Tigers hit the road next week to face an old Big 12 Conference rival – the Kansas State Wildcats. Game time on Saturday, Sept. 10, is 11 a.m. at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas and the game will be televised by ESPN2.