Saturday foes Missouri, Kentucky share same SEC record but got there in different ways
Has Missouri — and its next opponent, Kentucky — turned a corner this season?
The Tigers followed a three-game skid to open SEC play with a two-game winning streak and are coming off their most impressive outcome to date. They won at No. 25 South Carolina in convincing fashion 23-10, and look to ride the momentum into Saturday’s game in Columbia.
With elevated play in recent weeks, Mizzou has at least shaken the gloom from the season. Coach Eli Drinkwitz wants to be sure his team maintains the trajectory he’s seeing — a mindset the Tigers maintained even when they were losing games.
“Instead of giving up, they just kept doing it a little better,” Drinkwitz said Tuesday at his weekly news conference.
The season could have spiraled after the Tigers dropped games to Auburn, Georgia and Florida. All of those losses were painful in their own way, and no team has come closer to beating the top-ranked Bulldogs this season than MU.
Instead, Mizzou hung on to defeated Vanderbilt before playing its most complete game of the season at South Carolina.
Defense has been the common thread throughout the season. The Tigers rank 19th nationally in average yards allowed and haven’t surrendered more than two touchdowns in a league game this season.
But against the Gamecocks, and Mizzou hopes going forward, quarterback Brady Cook and the offense were superb, especially early.
After a three-and-out to open the game, Missouri put together successive touchdown drives of 96 and 84 yards on its way to a 17-0 lead.
“Our defense puts us in the best chance to win,” Drinkwitz said. “So offensively and on special teams we have to support that. We got to continue to improve, and I thought offensively we set the tone in that (South Carolina) game.”
Now comes a Kentucky team that, like Missouri, has had its ups and downs ... but in a different order. The Wildcats opened the season with four straight victories and climbed to No. 7 in the AP poll.
But Kentucky has since lost three of four and owns the same SEC record as Missouri at 2-3. The Wildcats also lead with their defense, ranking just behind the Tigers in yards allowed.
The Cats’ struggles have come on offense under first-year coordinator Rick Scargarello. Veteran quarterback Will Levis and running back Chris Rodriguez are back, but Kentucky is averaging 352 yards per game, down from 425 a year ago.
The Wildcats are coming off a 44-6 road loss against a Tennessee team that was ranked No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff poll, which was released Tuesday.
“You have to always look at things and evaluate things and see the good and the bad and where you’re falling short,” Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops said at his news conference on Monday. “What else you going to do? There’s nothing drastic. You certainly better look at it and you better address it and you better get it fixed or you’re not going to last.”
Missouri, at least for a game, found an offensive rhythm it hopes to continue for the rest of the season.
This story was originally published November 1, 2022 at 8:27 PM.