OFFENSE: B-

Texas A&M played without RT Germain Ifedi (knee), inserting former LT Cedric Ogbuehi in his place, LG Jarvis Harrison to left tackle and went to the bench for a left guard. Missouri’s Shane Ray and Markus Golden combined for three sacks, which I thought was a decent performance all things considered. (No other Tigers defender made a sack.)

The Aggies came within two yards of scoring 34 points to tie the game late in the fourth quarter (good), but couldn’t convert a fourth-and-1 (bad). Outside of Josh Reynolds, no A&M receiver got open with regularity. Kyle Allen had an OK day, as his only interception hit Speedy Noil first. He definitely didn’t lose the game for the Aggies.

DEFENSE: D

Armani Watts made an athletic close on a ball Maty Mauk hung for too long for an interception. Mauk managed just 6.3 yards per attempt with his usual routine, swiveling backward several times and heaving the ball wildly downfield. The crowd also helped forcing Missouri into all sorts of false starts and other penalties.

But Missouri rushed for 335 yards and three touchdowns against the Aggies’ matador defense. Russell Hansbrough entered the game averaging 57.7 yards per game and nearly got to 200.

To be fair, the team performed without Myles Garrett, three of its linebackers left the game due to injury and the best tackler in the secondary, Deshazor Everett, has a bum elbow. But we’re far past the point of using injuries as an excuse for this defense. It cost the team a chance to compete for an SEC title last season with QB Johnny Manziel and it may cost the team a Top 25 finish this year.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A-

Speedy Noil produced a 70-yard kickoff return, but got caught from behind and didn’t score a touchdown. Josh Lambo drilled two field goals, punter Drew Kaser was his usual steady self and the team contained the ever-dangerous return man Marcus Murphy.

COACHING: C-

If you told me before Saturday that Texas A&M would lose a close game to Missouri, getting within two yards of a likely overtime, I’d say not good, not bad. The Tigers are 12-3 against SEC teams since the start of last season. It’s bad, but it’s not 59-0 to Alabama bad. The coaching staff has done well to get Allen to a serviceable level at quarterback. The defensive coaching staff doesn’t have the personnel of an Alabama or even a Missouri, but it has done little to stop the downward spiral.

OVERALL: D+

The Aggies are 1-4 in the last five SEC games with what could be construed as a lucky win at Auburn, with a pretty narrow escape against Louisiana-Monroe thrown in there. That’s not what fans expect from coach Kevin Sumlin, who signed a six-year, $30 million extension in December. The perception of the team was overinflated entering October with that No. 6 ranking, making the fall seem more startling than it is. But a loss to LSU would mean closing the season 2-5, in the company of Vanderbilt and Arkansas. Yikes.