Missouri finally got its first SEC win on Saturday, as it took down visiting Vanderbilt, 17-14.

With the loss, the Commodores and Iowa State are the Power 5 teams in the nation without a victory in conference play.

Toward the end of the season as the Tigers (3-4 overall, 1-3 SEC) fight to become bowl-eligible, it’s easy to get the sense that this is not a team that is bad by any means. They have one of the best wide receivers in the SEC with Dominic Lovett on the field, a potentially developing quarterback who has shown some flashes while also showing need for improvement and a defense that is one of the better ones despite not getting the attention that it deserves.

So the primary questions that stick out are what this team would look like and what its record would be if it were not overshadowed by offensive shortcomings and what exactly is to come of Luther Burden.

Looking at the former question, Mizzou has seen some positives from its run game and has done well on chunk plays through the air on occasion. And while Brady Cook does need to get better and does have some room for growth as young quarterbacks do, it’s easy to see that there are some talented pieces on this offense and that it seems to come down more to play-calling than anything else. Head coach Eli Drinkwitz has publicly shouldered the blame for some decisions made on multiple occasions.

Burden, the former 5-star recruit and current Tigers wide receiver, had immense expectations placed on him headed into the season. He got off to a hot start, showing just how versatile he is and how much of a role he plays on trick plays. He showed the ability to perform on special teams while playing the traditional role of wideout at a high level.

But there’s definitely the line of thinking that Burden is being sold short here and that he could be more of a factor with a better offense in which play-calling issues are not a consistent issue, and that’s what needs to change as things progress.

For that reason, Burden’s production is so sporadic. He currently has 22 receptions for 180 yards with 2 receiving touchdowns and 2 rushing touchdowns. Burden’s best game came in Saturday’s victory over Vanderbilt (3-5, 0-4) when he caught 4 passes for 66 yards with a receiving and a rushing touchdown.

Regardless of how he does it, Burden has just one thing on his mind whenever the ball is in his hands, whether it’s on a run, a catch, a trick play or a punt he might just return for a touchdown. And maybe it’s about time that Mizzou starts putting him in those situations more often.

“Every time I get the ball the only thing on my mind is ‘end zone,'” Burden said in the postgame media availability after the win over Vanderbilt.

As for the defensive effort on Saturday, the Tigers held the Commodores to 242 passing yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception between quarterbacks AJ Swann and Michael Wright. The rushing attack was non-existent, too. Vanderbilt was held to 58 yards on the ground, and leading rusher Re’Mahn Davis had a mere 28 yards.

In several winnable games this season, the defense has been kept on the field too long and/or has had to completely shoulder the load as the offense sputters. Because of that, the defense has been largely overlooked with Mizzou sitting at 3-4.

And while games like the 40-12 loss to Kansas State look poor, if it weren’t for issues stemming from play-calling that made for a nonexistent offense, that game could have been a lot closer as the defense contained star running back Deuce Vaughn (heralded as one of the best in the nation) for the majority of the game and was able to limit explosive plays before it was simply worn down.

The Mizzou defense ranks 4th in the SEC and 22nd in the nation, something just about any team would be happy about, yet no one speaks of it because Mizzou’s issues on the other side of the ball really are just that bad.

It will be interesting to see if Mizzou can make strides on offense when it travels to No. 25 South Carolina on Saturday afternoon.