Happy homecoming for Mizzou as Tyler Badie-led Tigers beat North Texas at Faurot Field

The Missouri Tigers are finally back in the win column.

Mizzou had lost three of its last four games entering this week’s homecoming contest but rebounded with a 48-35 victory over North Texas at Faurot Field on Saturday.

Here are three takeaways from the win.

Tyler Badie can’t be stopped

Tyler Badie continued his impressive senior campaign, once again playing a key role for the Missouri offense.

After an interception from defensive back Kris Abrams-Draine set up the Tigers with great field position in the first quarter, Badie rushed for six yards on third and 2 to get the first down. On the following play, he found an easy path and ran the ball 12 yards to the end zone for his first touchdown of the day.

On third and 8 on Mizzou’s next offensive drive, Badie found a hole, threw a stiff-arm to a Mean Green defender and sprinted down the field. He nearly had a breakaway touchdown but was stopped at the North Texas 35 yard line after a 50-yard gain.

Later on the drive, on third and goal, Bazelak scrambled out of the pocket and dumped off a 3-yard pass to the running back, who was waiting in the top-right corner of the end zone, and Mizzou had second touchdown of the afternoon.

The score marked Badie’s 11th of the season. He is just the fifth player in program history to record at least 10 touchdowns through the first six games of the season, according to Mizzou historian Tom Orf.

But Badie wasn’t done just yet. After receiving the handoff from Bazelak on second and 12, he found a hole, escaped a defender grasping at his feet and took off toward the end zone, rushing 52 yards for the score. The touchdown, his third of the day, put the Tigers up 28-7 with 5:57 left in the first half.

The senior had another huge breakaway play at the end of the third quarter, sprinting down the sideline for a 42-yard gain to get Mizzou within 19 yards of the end zone. The drive ended in a 40-yard field goal.

Badie finished the game with 217 rushing yards on 17 attempts, averaging 12.8 yards per carry, and two receptions for nine yards, along with the three touchdowns.

Defense shows slight improvement

After last week’s performance against Tennessee led to the firing of defensive line coach Jehtro Franklin and a scrapping of the depth chart, there was a lot of pressure on the Missouri defense to show improvement Saturday.

Of course, North Texas isn’t an SEC opponent and entered this game with a 1-3 record, so it’s hard to gauge how much progress the defense has actually made. But the Tigers did have some bright spots, at least compared to prior weeks.

In the first half, the Mizzou defense held the Mean Green to 112 total yards, 71 of which came on the ground. The Tigers also only allowed them an average 3.6 yards per play. And North Texas only converted just one of its seven third-down conversion attempts, with five total first downs.

The Tigers started the second half a bit shaky on defense, giving up a 35-yard passing touchdown and allowing the Mean Green six first downs on their first two drives of the half. But MU quickly regrouped. Defensive back Akayleb Evans forced North Texas running back Isaiah Johnson to fumble the ball on a 29-yard catch; Abrams-Draine recovered it. Later in the quarter, defensive linemen Trajan Jeffcoat and Isaiah McGuire had consecutive sacks to force the Mean Green to punt the ball away.

The defense perhaps had its biggest play in the fourth quarter, though, coming by way of two defensive linemen. On second and 8, Trajan Whitecoat deflected quarterback Austin Aune’s pass and Mekhi Wingo intercepted the ball. Wingo then set his sights on the end zone, rushing 40 yards to score the touchdown and put Mizzou up 41-14 with 11:39 left in the game.

The defense gave up three touchdowns on explosive plays later in the fourth quarter, and allowing 35 points and 491 total yards of offense isn’t great by any means, but overall, there were a fair share of positive signs for a unit that had been struggling tremendously. Still, a lot needs to be cleaned up, especially since the Tigers will only be facing SEC opponents for the rest of the season.

Mevis Magic

Harrison Mevis simply can’t seem to miss.

The sophomore kicker has arguably been one of the two best players for Mizzou this season, and that only continued Saturday.

With 1:08 left in the second quarter, Mevis attempted a 48-yard field goal. That long of distance is something most college kickers struggle with, but Mevis made it look like a breeze. The kick soared through the middle of the uprights, the result never in question as he extended Mizzou’s lead to 31-7.

Later in the game, with 13:29 left in the fourth quarter, Mevis once again made a long kick look easy as he went perfect on a 40-yard try. The field goal put the Tigers up 34-14.

Mevis has now made 16 consecutive field goals for Mizzou in a streak dating to last season.

This story was originally published October 9, 2021 at 6:35 PM.