Grades from Missouri football’s win over South Carolina and looking ahead to Florida
The Missouri Tigers defeated South Carolina 31-28 on Saturday to keep their hopes of a bowl game within reach.
Here are grades for all three Mizzou units, the best highlight of the game and a look ahead to next Saturday’s game against Florida.
PLAY OF THE GAME
There haven’t been a lot of highlight worthy plays on defense this season, so when there is one it’s all the more exciting. In the third quarter, safety Martez Manuel forced the ball loose from South Carolina quarterback Jason Brown at the Gamecocks’ 5-yard line and defensive lineman Trajan Jeffcoat recovered it in the end zone, giving Mizzou a 24-14 lead with the touchdown.
GRADES
Offense: C-. Connor Bazelak was back starting at quarterback, but he was benched in the fourth quarter after throwing his second interception of the day. The offense also had a fumble in the fourth quarter from wide receiver Mookie Cooper (who also had a 60 yard touchdown) that eventually led to a South Carolina touchdown. The two turnovers turned a 31-14 game into a 31-28 affair in just about eight minutes of game play. The positives? Another 200-yard rushing game for Tyler Badie, 438 yards of total offense and converting 7-of-14 third down tries.
Defense: B. On paper, 28 points doesn’t look great, but three of those scores came following mistakes from the offense and that actually matched the Tigers’ fewest points allowed to an SEC opponent this year. Mizzou’s defense forced two fumbles (including the one that resulted in a touchdown) and had three sacks, six tackles for a loss of 59 yards and one interception in the victory. Perhaps most impressive was holding South Carolina to just 59 rushing yards and 1.9 yards per rush — by far the lowest for a team all season against the Tigers — and 250 total yards.
Special teams: B+. Harrison Mevis and the special teams unit didn’t have that much to do in this one, but they certainly impressed with how quickly they were able to get on the field and make good on a 19-yard field goal attempt as the seconds winded down in the first half. Defensive back Kris Abrams-Draine had three returns for 57 yards, including one for 39 yards. Punter Grant McKinniss averaged 38.3 yards per punt as well.
LOOKING AHEAD
Missouri is back at Faurot Field for its last home game of the season against Florida next Saturday. The contest will kickoff at 3 p.m. and air on the SEC Network.
