Mizzou improved to 7-1 on the season Saturday afternoon, downing a hapless South Carolina squad 34-12.

The Tigers jumped to a 24-3 lead heading into halftime and were able to cruise on the comfort of their 21-point cushion. South Carolina came out with more life than they did in the first half, but ultimately their final push was too little, too late.

The Tigers now enter the bye week with a date with No. 1 Georgia looming on the schedule.

To hold you over, here are 3 takeaways from the Tigers’ SEC East win over the Gamecocks.

Cody Schrader shines behind a nasty O-Line

Cody Schrader had a fantastic day against a bad South Carolina offensive line Saturday afternoon in CoMo.

The Mizzou RB scored the 2nd TD of the day after an excellent catch by Luther Burden for the opening score. Here’s Schrader’s jaunt for 6:

Schrader had a better 1st half than he did 2nd half, but still finished Saturday afternoon with a season-high 159 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Schrader’s 2nd score of the day put the Gamecocks to bed officially:

The Tigers finished with 220 total rushing yards.

Mizzou’s ability to establish the run early did a lot for its passing game, too. The Tigers finished with 198 passing yards, with Luther Burden leading all receivers with 4 receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown.

Dominant performance from Mizzou’s D-line

Missouri’s defensive line, especially in the first half, was downright nasty.

The Tigers held South Carolina to just 69 rushing yards, including an incredible -8 rushing yards in the first half. Mario Anderson of South Carolina was able to get some work done in the second half, but by that point things were already out of hand.

The Tigers were able to pressure Spencer Rattler, too. Missouri finished with 6 sacks and 8 tackles for loss. Ty’Ron Hopper especially had a strong day, totaling 4 tackles with 1 sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.

Momentum heading into the Open Date. Georgia looms…

Missouri was *this close* to downing No. 1 Georgia last season in Columbia.

Of course, as was Missouri’s story of the season, the Tigers fell in a heartbreaking battle despite leading late.

This year’s Bulldogs squad is not even close to as strong as last year’s team, and Missouri has improved immensely in turn. Of course, the Tigers have lost just once this season – 49-39 to LSU.

This win marks Missouri’s 2nd straight following that LSU loss. The Tigers beat up on Kentucky before taking care of business against the Gamecocks Saturday.

And the Tigers get some rest ahead of their biggest game of the season thus far. Eli Drinkwitz will get some extra time to gameplan for No. 1, which will likely be without star TE Brock Bowers following an injury last week.