Missouri Tigers football grades: Analysis from Mizzou’s blowout win over UMass

Mizzou football was part of another blowout this week — this time, on the right end.

The Tigers bounced back from their Texas A&M loss with a comfortable 45-3 win in Amherst over the UMass Minutemen. Unlike last week, Mizzou showed complete control right out the gate, led by Luther Burden’s 61-yard rushing touchdown in the first minute of the game. From there, the Tigers never let off the gas.

“Proud of our football team today,” head coach Eli Drinkwitz said postgame. “I talked all week about responding, and there was a lot of different ways that this could have gone. They leaned into each other, the staff leaned into the players, and they fought back and responded the right way today.”

Here are our grades from Saturday’s win...

Missouri offense

The Tigers put together 461 yards of total offense — leading to 45 points.

The Minutemen’s season-long struggles against the run marked a focal point leading into the game, and the Tigers took advantage, even without RB Nate Noel (sidelined with back tightness). The Tigers ran for 231 yards with four touchdowns on the ground.

Quarterback Brady Cook went 14-for-19 through the air, throwing a pair of touchdowns (63 yards to Joshua Manning, 8 yards to Brett Norfleet).

Grade: A

Missouri defense

The Tigers defense held the Minutemen to three points all day, the lowest since the Week 2 shutout of Buffalo, and backed up the offense to keep the lead comfortable.

One of the plays of the game came from the defense with Corey Flagg’s interception on third-and-goal at the 9-yard line, returning it 80 yards into UMass territory at the end of the second quarter. The Tigers turned this takeaway into a 42-yard field goal for a 24-3 lead at half.

Grade: A

Missouri special teams

While watching Mizzou’s highlights of this game, you likely won’t see the fake punt that the Tigers were unprepared for, which put UMass at the Mizzou 22-yard line.

The Minutemen lined up for the “punt” on fourth-and-1, and Te’Rai Powell ended up taking the snap for 31 yards toward the end of the first half. Luckily for the Tigers, it was on the same drive as the Flagg interception, but could have otherwise led to points.

Blake Craig made his lone field goal and all six PAT kicks, and Luke Bauer pinned two punts inside the 20 for some redemption on the special teams side.

Grade: B-

Area of improvement

While the defense looked great overall, the Tigers’ secondary allowed some open UMass receivers, which let the Minutemen gain some ground. With the Tigers returning to SEC play, including a trip to Tuscaloosa in two weeks, that unit could stand to be a bit sharper to limit those opposing opportunities.

Player of the game

No Noel, no problem.

Running back Marcus Carroll stepped up for the Tigers in a loud way, rushing for 91 yards across 15 carries with three of the four Mizzou TDs on the ground.