Missouri football: Stock Report after Week 3
With a record-breaking field goal, Missouri improved to 3-0 and picked up a massive win over Kansas State Saturday.
It was the signature win Eli Drinkwitz and his team needed and now Missouri looks prepared to put together a solid season. The Tigers face Memphis next week and will be looking for a 4-0 start as they get into SEC play, which seems very attainable.
Does Missouri have what it takes to compete against teams like Tennessee, LSU and Georgia? Only time will tell, but the win over Kansas State is a good indicator of the direction Missouri’s program is moving.
Player of the Week: Harrison Mevis
The player who kicks the game winning field goal is by default the player of the game, but even without the final field goal, Harrison Mevis put together a solid outing and kept Missouri in the game.
He was 3-for-4 on field goals and hit all 3 of his extra points, accounting for 12 of the Tigers 30 points. His 61-yard field goal to take the lead as time expired was the longest in SEC history, breaking the previous record by 1 yard.
Freshman of the Week: Riley Williams
Continuing the trend of special teams having a big day, punter Riley Willams, who transferred to Missouri this season, was solid for the Tigers.
Williams was not called to action once in the first half as Missouri’s offense flourished, but when the Tigers got stagnant in the second half, Williams was great. He punted 6 times, averaging 44 yards per punt and making things very difficult for Kansas State. Had it not been for Williams’ punting, Kansas State could have been set up with much better field position and in turn added more points.
Biggest Surprise: Missouri’s recovery from MTSU game
After Missouri struggled and barely beat MTSU in Week 2, there were plenty of valid concerns about how bad the team could be this season. The Tigers came out in Week 3 and had a completely different game against a much, much stronger opponent.
Were they perfect? No. But they showed improvement from Week 2 and proved they can compete against really good teams. If Missouri can continue playing how they did on Saturday, the Tigers will finish the year having won some more big games.
Biggest concern: Run game
Missouri had just 74 rushing yards on the game, which should be a cause of concern for the Tigers. While they made up for it through the air, if the Tigers can’t get the run game going, it could be costly.
When Missouri gets into SEC play, it won’t be able to lean this heavily on the passing game as the Tigers take on some of the best secondaries in the country. For that reason, it’s time for Eli Drinkwitz to allow his backfield to get more reps and gain some momentum over the next few games.
Running back Cody Schrader proved what he could do in Week 1, picking more than 100 yards. If he is given the right opportunities, he could do some damage in the backfield.
Developing trend: Staying locked in all 4 quarters
A sign of a great team is when they go out and win all 4 quarters in a game. Missouri did not do that on Saturday.
After a strong first half that gave the Tigers a 17-14 lead heading into halftime, Missouri proceeded to go scoreless in the third quarter and gave up 10 points. The Tigers found their footing in the fourth quarter and ended up winning, but that lackluster third quarter almost cost them the game. Moving forward, Missouri needs to go out and win each quarter.
Key Stat: 23/35
Brady Cook was a little inefficient passing the ball with 12 incompletions. While these aren’t the worst numbers in the world, Cook will want to get dialed in before he starts facing some really tough SEC defenses later this season.
First impression about Week 4 against Memphis
Unlike many other SEC teams, Missouri will get all of its non-conference games out of the way in the first 4 weeks and finish out the season playing solely conference games.
That can be a good thing, especially with the Tigers playing some solid competition early. With a huge win against Kansas State under their belt, the Tigers should be able to beat Memphis, but don’t be surprised if Memphis can hang with them.
Memphis is 3-0 and coming off a win against Navy. They will be fired up and looking to get a massive win against an SEC opponent. Missouri needs to play extremely focused football in order to get a win.
If Missouri takes care of business, they will be 4-0 heading into their first SEC game of the season against Vanderbilt, which should be a fairly manageable game.
I’m not that overly concerned about the run game based on who we just played. Yeah it would have been nice but KState has a better run defense than what we’ll probably see all year. If we can’t run it against Memphis, Vandy and LSU then we may have a concern.
I will say it is funny reading some of these articles in a year where the SEC is clearly down. The writers aren’t used to non conference opponents being as good or better than the SEC and they just automatically default to saying things like “this will have to improve once conference play starts…”
Although you only touched on it Andrew. Something you said really resonates. This team of veterans and new young talent has put in real work. And it’s showing. And they were calm last year. This year they’re calm and sure. Surely fans are noticing. They’ve got to work some things out no doubt. More than 1 or 2. And that game was key to 9 wins. Out of 13 minimum.
Memphis will not be an easy W. I do feel Memphis will loose the trench war on both sides of the ball, and yes, K-State has one of the best defenses we will face this season.
Sustainment is the absolute key. Gary Pinkle 0-0 mindset works, never look ahead & improve EVERY week, otherwise you will inevitably trip at the worst possible moment.
Riley Williams isn’t a Freshman. He is a JUCO transfer.
Current success seems to be the notion of doing whatever is necessary to win, regardless of stats, egos and so-called “balance.” Perhaps they should stick to that, as it is the only truly unpredictable behavior an opponent can’t prep for.
“K-State has one of the best defenses we will face this season.”
I just don’t see that, they weren’t particularly fast in the backfield, and yes they did get thru the oline some, but then what team doesnt.
They look like a very middling SEC team, both talent and management wise, which only indicates Mizzou might be a little better than .500 in conference.
Of course that would make Mizzou fans ecstatic, because 6 win bowls are like super bowls for MU fans.