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Usually, power conference teams get a nice easy weekend at home for buy games. But not Mizzou, not this week.
Well, it was definitely still easy. The Tigers rolled over UMass in Amherst, Massachusetts Saturday, scoring a dominant 45-3 victory over the Minutemen. Now they get to hop back on the plane and make the 3-hour journey back to Columbia ahead of next weekend’s battle against Auburn.
To hold you over, here are 3 takeaways from Missouri’s commanding win over UMass.
Luther Burden is a force, but the Tigers can’t afford a long-term injury
Luther Burden III suffered an injury at the start of the 3rd quarter that kept him out of the remainder of the matchup. At that point Mizzou was up 24-3 and the game was all but over, so the immediate hope is that Eli Drinkwitz and Co. were just being careful.
Before Burden’s injury he was by far the best player on the field. Burden hauled in 5 receptions for 59 yards while rushing for 68 yards and a touchdown. Here’s his score to open the day:
Luther Burden III made it look easy pic.twitter.com/T2jXKerBTd
— ESPN (@espn) October 12, 2024
Missouri desperately needs Burden to be healthy moving forward. The Tigers’ offensive woes have been well-documented this season, and taking away Brady Cook’s top receiver would only grow that issue.
Marcus Carroll posts a hat trick
Another bright spot for Missouri’s offense on Saturday was Marcus Carroll, who had his best game of the year. The senior running back rushed for 91 yards with 3 touchdowns, averaging just over 6 yards per carry on 15 carries.
Now, it’s true that UMass’s run defense has been pretty terrible this season. Carroll has yet to post a truly strong outing against a team with a pulse this season, but that’s partially due to the offensive line’s struggles against Texas A&M and early against Boston College.
Missouri faces off against an Auburn team that has struggled to defend against the run this season, which could serve as a good test before the Tigers head to Tuscaloosa to face an Alabama squad that is trending in the wrong direction.
Missouri’s defense takes care of business against a dreadful offense
It’s hard to take anything away from performances like these against just straight up bad offenses. However, something that impressed me most was the end of the half when UMass was driving.
The Minutemen were down 21-3 at this point in the game and had just converted on 4th down to move the chains. Suddenly they’re within the Tigers 20 and threatening to make it a semblance of a ballgame heading into the 2nd half.
Instead, Corey Flagg picked off UMass QB Taisun Phommachanh and returned it 80 yards to the Tigers’ Red Zone. Mizzou nailed the ensuing field goal and entered the half up 24-3 instead of 21-10.
It was one of 2 turnovers on the afternoon for UMass. Mizzou’s defense was lights out, as they were supposed to be – UMass totaled just 237 yards throughout the game, averaging 4.2 yards per play.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
