Mizzou took on Memphis in St. Louis in what was supposed to be a neutral-site game on Saturday night at The Dome.

But the crowd was largely pro-Mizzou, giving the Tigers an extra edge. (Never mind that the turf at The Dome looked awful and drew criticism on social media.)

Mizzou held on for a 34-27 victory. It wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done. Here’s a look at 3 takeaways from Mizzou’s win in St. Louis:

Brady Cook CAN throw it deep, after all

All it took was a different OC for Mizzou’s quarterback to start connecting on some deep balls. Here’s a look at his first TD pass of the night, which went to Marquis Johnson for 76 yards:

Last year, so many of Cooks passes were behind or at the line of scrimmage. This year, he’s airing it out a bit more and trusting his receivers. That’s a great sign moving forward, as the WR room is one of the strengths of this Mizzou squad.

Obviously Luther Burden III is a star, but there’s plenty of talent up and down the roster at the receiver position. If Cook is going to be successful in 2023, he needs to trust those guys more and let them go make plays. OC Kirby Moore plays a big part in that, too.

Third downs are a major problem

Through 3 quarters, Mizzou was 0-for-6 on third-down conversions. That’s not going to cut it against SEC competition. Yes, the Tigers beat Kansas State last week and have had decent performances against nonconference foes, but next week starts a whole new ballgame.

Bizarre play calls, penalties, errant passes — all of these are reasons for Mizzou’s lack of success on third downs. A more competent team would be converting at a higher rate.

This isn’t to say Mizzou is incompetent. Far from it. You don’t get to 4-0 on the season without having a certain level of competency. But there are still to many baffling decisions from coaches and players for this squad to win SEC games.

There’s 1 week to get things fixed before league action starts.

Flirting with disaster

As mentioned in the last section, Mizzou’s schedule gets a whole lot tougher once SEC play starts next week. (OK, maybe not next week, as the Tigers play Vanderbilt, but you get the idea.)

It’s not good that the Tigers keep flirting with disaster with teams like Kansas State, Memphis and Middle Tennessee. You have to put teams away. You simply have to.

The Tigers aren’t doing that. It’s going to end up costing them. Maybe not next week in Nashville, but eventually and soon.

Buckle up, because this looks like it’s going to be a very stressful season for Mizzou fans!