Grading Missouri’s 15-14 loss to No. 12 Kentucky and looking ahead to No. 9 Florida
Missouri suffered its most devastating defeat of the Barry Odom era on Saturday — a 15-14 loss to No. 12 Kentucky that was decided on the final play. The Tigers’ offense didn’t pick up a first down in the second half after leading 14-3 and Mizzou now heads to No. 9 Florida for its final chance at beating a ranked team this season.
Play of the game
Missouri’s final third-down play: Drew Lock threw an incomplete pass to Johnathon Johnson that brought the punting unit out and gave Kentucky the ball back with 1:24 left. If Missouri runs the ball, it would have used more clock and forced Kentucky to use its final timeout. The Wildcats wouldn’t have been able to use it on their game-winning drive.
Grades
Offense — F: It’s pretty hard to go an entire half without a first down but somehow Missouri found a way. Lock was without Kendall Blanton and Emanuel Hall but still had enough weapons to get into the end zone. When Missouri needed points, even just a field goal, the offense got nowhere near the red zone.
Defense — A-: It’s a pretty impressive showing when the defense doesn’t give up a touchdown until the final play of the game. It’s also very untimely. Missouri’s defense held Benny Snell to just 67 yards rushing and had multiple fourth-down stops. The Wildcats were also 3 for 17 on third- and fourth-down conversions. They absolutely put Missouri in a position to win.
Special teams — F: Missouri missed a field goal, which was blocked, and gave up a punt-return touchdown that put Kentucky in a position to win. That’s spotting Kentucky nine points (the two-point conversion on the punt-return TD was unsuccessful). This team doesn’t have the ability to overcome mistakes like that.
Next up
As Missouri heads to No. 9 Florida on Saturday, here are two things the Tigers need:
Move on from this: Easier said than done. Missouri has to find a way to have a short memory on this game and have the right mindset going into Gainesville. Whether that happens won’t be determined until Saturday.
Learn from its mistakes: The players say they’ve done this but the results speak otherwise. Missouri continues to spot teams points, which has been a big difference in three of its four losses. Penalties have killed the Tigers at times and the team can’t deliver in the clutch. Missouri needs to start backing up its talk.
Alex Schiffer
Alex Schiffer covers University of Missouri athletics for The Star.
