Visitors, injuries & penalties: Missouri Tigers notebook after win over Vanderbilt

After a less-than-ideal performance from kicker Blake Craig versus Vanderbilt, he ended up saving Mizzou with a 37-yard field goal that gave the Tigers the edge in double overtime.

No. 7 MU went on to survive a scare from Vanderbilt when Craig’s counterpart, Brock Taylor — who had gone 2-of-3 on field goal attempts in regulation, including a 57-yarder to give Vandy a 13-10 lead at the half — shanked a 31-yarder far to the left, giving the Tigers a 30-27 victory.

Craig, who was last week’s SEC Special Teams Player of the Week, went 3-for-6 on field goal attempts Saturday. His longest success of the game was a 54-yarder, but he missed from 24, 40 and 46.

“At the end of the day, we’re going to trust him,” coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “It’s a learning lesson. Can’t get too high, can’t get too low. Last week, we’re SEC Player (of) the Week; this week, we’re not, so we’re somewhere in the middle, and just like the rest of us, starting with me, we’ve got to get better this week.”

Drinkwitz said he was proud of how Craig’s teammates encouraged the kicker after his missed attempts.

“They just kept fighting for each other, kept saying they had each other’s back,” Drinkwitz said. “They grabbed Blake, they told him they had his back, and I’m proud of those guys for doing that.”

Running back Nate Noel said he and other teammates went to check on Craig after some missed attempts and encouraged the kicker to keep his eyes on the next kick.

“That’s our mentality, for real, this-play mentality,” Noel explained. “So, forget about the last play, forget about the last quarter, the last half. Just worry about the next play that’s in front of you or the play that’s happening right now.”

Drinkwitz said he’s not frustrated with Craig, explaining that some kicks didn’t go through the uprights, and that’s that.

“I kind of let him do his thing,” quarterback Brady Cook said. “He doesn’t need to hear it from me. He knows what to do. Blake Craig, he’s a professional, he’s a great kicker, and I’m sure he’s gonna bounce back just fine. He’s so talented. He’s got a huge leg. He’s accurate, and he’s gonna bounce back. So, yeah, I know he knows what to do.”

Missouri cleans up the penalties

After accumulating 25 penalties for 215 yards in the first three games of the 2024 season, Missouri is slowly starting to follow the rule book better. Key word: slowly.

Missouri’s performance against Boston College, which resulted in eight penalties for 91 yards, put a sour taste in Drinkwitz’s mouth.

“I’ve never seen that many flags on a single offense in my time,” Drinkwitz said following the 27-21 victory over Boston College.

With Drinkwitz and his staff emphasizing cleaning up those mistakes this week, Missouri began working out the kinks in its system, totaling just three penalties for 33 yards against the Commodores.

After Vanderbilt received an unnecessary roughness call for shoving wide receiver Mehki Miller, the Tigers had their first penalty of the game. A holding call on Cam’Ron Johnson cost the Tigers 10 yards in the middle of the second quarter, a drive that would later result in Missouri’s second touchdown.

The second penalty fell on safety Phillip Roche for an illegal block in the back on a second-quarter punt return. The penalty cut 10 yards off a 16-yard return by Luther Burden III.

An unnecessary roughness call on linebacker Chuck Hicks for roughing the passer in the first overtime resulted in a 13-yard gain for Vanderbilt. The call came on a drive resulting in a Commodores touchdown.

The Tigers also had an illegal formation call at the end of their first drive at the 11-minute mark of the first quarter, but the penalty was declined.

Preparing for Texas A&M

Following an off week, Missouri’s next challenge comes against Texas A&M at 11 a.m. on Oct. 5 at Kyle Field.

But Drinkwitz said Texas A&M is not his concern. Right now, he’s taking a hard look at the Missouri Tigers.

“We’ve got to figure out why we’re not executing the third downs in the red area, why we’re not kicking field goals, why we’re missing tackles, why we’re busting assignments,” Drinkwitz said. “So, I’m not even kind of worried about Texas A&M. We’ve been doing stuff since Day 1 of fall camp to work on noise, so I’m not concerned about that.

“What I’m concerned about is our team enjoying a win, being 4-0, which is as good as we can be record-wise, but we’re not as good as we can be play-wise. We’re going to have to settle in on that and figure out what we’ve got to do to improve. ... That’s always been how we’ve approached bye weeks, and that’s not going to change.”

After completing 23 of 37 pass attempts and having 11 carries for just 7 yards, Cook said he’s taking a hard look at the offense.

“We’re going to get a lot of good reps versus the defense,” Cook said. “We’re going to get some extra practice time, so we’re going to utilize it. I know I’m going to get a lot of extra reps with the receivers, make sure the line feels good about everything, and we’re going to watch a lot of tape to see where we can get better.”

He continued.

“It’s a great time for a bye week,” Cook said. “We’re 4-0 going into the first bye week, and that’s what we all wanted, no matter how this game looked. And, shoot, we’ll be right back to work tomorrow. We’re going to have a great practice Monday night, Tuesday, Wednesday (and) Thursday. We get to get healthy, and then we’re going to get better.”

Mizzou football injury update

Wide receiver Marquis Johnson suffered an ankle injury at the end of the third quarter.

Following a kick return, Johnson fell to the field and limped into the locker room. Drinkwitz said he would not have been able to reenter the game Saturday but that the injury is otherwise not significant.

Brett Norfleet exited the field toward the end of the third quarter, returning at the beginning of the fourth. Drinkwitz confirmed this wasn’t because of injury but instead caused by a broken sole on the bottom of one of Norfleet’s shoes.

Visitors at Faurot Field

Despite the dreary conditions, there were numerous visitors on Faurot Field before Missouri’s kickoff against the Commodores.

Five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell highlighted the visitors from the class of 2026. Cantwell, son of MU shot put great Christian Cantwell, is the No. 1 offensive tackle and No. 2 overall recruit in the class of 2026, according to On3 Industry Rankings.

Drinkwitz took a helicopter Friday night to visit Cantwell in a 34-14 win for Cantwell and Nixa over Carthage. At Memorial Stadium the next day, Cantwell was accompanied by class of 2026 offensive lineman Hayden Mays, Cantwell’s teammate at Nixa. Four-star wide receiver Brayden Robinson — from Red Oak, Texas, and the No. 39 receiver in the class of 2026 — was also in attendance.

From the class of 2025, four-star offensive lineman and Missouri commit Jack Lange (Eureka) was in attendance as well as three-star wide receiver and fellow Missouri commit Shaun Terry (Ironton, Ohio). Class of 2025 three-star tight end Jayden Savoury, a Michigan State commit from Orchard Lake, Michigan, and linebacker Jeb Koetting (Kansas City/Rockhurst) were also at Memorial Stadium.

During the first quarter of Missouri’s match against the Commodores, the 2024 Mizzou Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame induction class was honored. The inductees: Martin Rucker (football), Bill Whitaker (football), Wayne and Susan Kreklow (volleyball), Krishna Lee (track & field), Chris Rohr (track & field) and Amelia Moses (golf).

Former Missouri basketball star and current L.A. Clippers guard Kobe Brown made an appearance at Missouri’s victory over Vanderbilt along with former teammates Sean East II and Ben Sternberg.

Miami was the lone NFL team represented by scouts at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.