Mizzou opened its 2023 season with a dominant 35-10 win over South Dakota Thursday night. Missouri never trailed and extends its season opening win streak to 3.

Blake Baker’s defense shined, Brady Cook looked good and the Tigers are 1-0 heading into Week 2 against MTSU.

Here are 3 takeaways from the Tigers’ Week 1 victory:

Brady Cook cooked under center

I apologize for that heading title. It won’t happen again.

But for all intents and purposes, it’s true. Cook, for the most part, looked good at the helm of the Mizzou offense Thursday night. He was not playing Georgia or anything but Cook finished the night throwing for 172 yards and 1 touchdown on 17-21 passing with 0 interceptions.

He was showing off some with his legs, too! Cook finished the night with 17 rushing yards and the below touchdown.

Sam Horn made a brief appearance for the Tigers, too. The redshirt freshman threw for 54 yards with 1 touchdown and an interception. Here’s his connection with Luther Burden for the score:

Veteran defense looked the part

If Missouri is going to make some noise in the east, it starts on defense. The Tigers return upwards of 8 starters to a good unit from last season and showed some prowess against South Dakota Thursday.

The Coyotes scored just 1 touchdown all evening and put up 194 total yards compared to the Tigers’ 447. South Dakota’s rushing offense especially struggled, totaling just 38 yards all evening.

And to be honest, the Tigers took their foot off the gas in the 2nd half. As mentioned above, Horn came in and threw an immediate interception to give the Coyotes a short field which led to their only touchdown of the night.

Johnny Walker was especially incredible for the Tigers Thursday night. The senior defensive lineman totaled a team-high 6 tackles with a tackle for loss, 1 QB hurry and .5 sacks.

Harrison Mevis’ struggled to start the year

Harrison Mevis struggled in Missouri’s season opener. The Tigers veteran missed both of his field goal attempts on the day.

It started from 48 yards out, still one you want to have but also not exactly the end of the world. The next was a little different. Mevis missed badly on a 34-yarder in the 2nd half.

This didn’t end up mattering against South Dakota, but the Tigers cannot afford to leave 6 points on the field against the likes of Kentucky, South Carolina and Florida.

It’s only Week 1. We’ll see if this develops into a pattern.