Mizzou took down FCS foe South Dakota on Thursday of Week 1, but that win left some fans wanting to see more from the Tigers’ offense.

After this week’s game against Middle Tennessee, those fans aren’t going to get any quieter.

The Tigers ended up winning Saturday’s showdown at Faurot Field 23-19, but it wasn’t pretty. The Blue Raiders battled Mizzou to a 10-10 tie early in the third quarter before Brady Cook and the Tigers were able to pull away.

It wasn’t the best performance from Mizzou, but the Tigers are 2-0 and will happily accept a victory.

Here are 3 takeaways from Saturday night’s win:

1. Someone needs to step up alongside Luther Burden

Luther Burden is an absolute superstar. He recorded 8 catches for 117 yards on Saturday, including this insane grab:

That wasn’t a good throw by Cook. Burden just made up for his quarterback’s lackluster toss with an incredible grab.

No one else on the Tigers even managed to record 3 catches. Mekhi Miller had 2 grabs for 10 yards. He was the only other Mizzou receiver with multiple grabs. That’s not going to cut it.

Theo Wease Jr. needs to step up. Miller needs to become a better target for Cook. It can’t be all on Burden all the time, no matter how special he is.

2. Mizzou misses Martez Manuel

Manuel was a staple on the back end of Mizzou’s defense for years. Now he’s gone and it’s clear the Tiger secondary is worse off because of it. There’s talent at the cornerback position, and frankly, there’s talent at the safety position, too. But Manuel was truly a quarterback of the defense. A coach on the field. Whatever cliché you want to use.

Middle Tennessee QB Nicholas Vattiato had 214 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. He didn’t throw an interception. It’d be nice to see the Tiger secondary have a stronger showing against a Group of 5 school.

3. It’s going to be a long year if the offense doesn’t improve

These were supposed to be the “easy” games. Instead, the Mizzou offense looked lackluster against both South Dakota and Middle Tennessee. As much as Drinkwitz likes to tout Cook’s leadership and toughness, eventually you have to throw the ball as a Power 5 quarterback.

Too many of Luther Burden’s touches come at or behind the line of scrimmage. Opposing defenses pack the box to stymie the Tigers’ rushing attack.

If Cook can’t develop a consistent downfield passing attack, it may be time to turn the reins over to someone else. Loyalty is fine when the wins are piling up, but the Tigers host No. 15 Kansas State next weekend.

Time to put up or shut up.