Mizzou football grades: What went right & wrong for Missouri Tigers in loss to LSU

Deep breaths, everyone.

Missouri football and LSU played in a back-and-forth thriller that featured plenty of offense and not so much defense, which made up a top-25 showdown at Faurot Field on Saturday.

The final score: LSU 49, Missouri 39.

Here are our postgame grades from Missouri’s back-and-forth thriller against LSU, after the MU Tigers dropped to 5-1 on the season (1-1 SEC) with the loss.

Missouri football’s offense

Over 400 total yards, 32 points and an even split with the rushing and passing offenses.

That was just the third quarter.

Missouri’s offense did what we expected against a porous LSU defense: It marched down the field, and it scored points. MU’s offense sputtered to start the third quarter, but that was it. The offense consistently had Missouri in a position to win.

Brady Cook was in command. He was confident. Cook was furthering the idea that he’s evolving into a gunslinger quarterback before our eyes.

Cody Schrader paced the rushing offense with a burst for a touchdown and a big 52-yard run that set up his second score of the day.

That one stalled drive in the third quarter, plus the first interception of the season for Cook, hindered this unit Saturday, but that wasn’t enough to hold the unit down for long.

The biggest moment of the day for the offense came with just under four minutes left in the fourth quarter with a chance to regain the lead. That drive started with a 42-yard gain to Luther Burden and ended with Schrader’s third touchdown of the day.

Cook’s second interception returned for a score iced the game. But Missouri’s offense has little to hang its head about.

Grade: B

Missouri football’s defense

LSU’s offense is very, very good. Jayden Daniels is a Heisman candidate for a reason. Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. are two of the best receivers in the country.

A week after LSU dropped 49 points on Ole Miss, it was to be expected that Missouri would struggle to keep the LSU offense at bay for most of the game, let alone a quarter.

Missouri did exactly that.

Stalling LSU in the red zone and holding the LSU Tigers to a few field goals was a win for Missouri, especially as LSU missed a short field goal with 13:16 left in the game that would have cut the Missouri lead to two.

There were no takeaways for the Missouri defense on Saturday. But, the defense did everything it could to stymie the LSU offense.

The worst moment of the day was when LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, who left the game earlier with a leg injury, scrambled on a third-and-3 for a 35-yard touchdown to put LSU back in front.

The Missouri defense put Missouri’s offense in a position to take advantage of the LSU defense. But the Missouri defense couldn’t stop Daniels when it mattered the most.

Grade: C-

Missouri football special teams

It wasn’t a great day for the third phase of the game.

Missouri’s special teams struggled in a few aspects: LSU blocked a Missouri field goal attempt on MU’s first drive of the second half. The punt return team allowed an LSU punt to roll into Missouri territory before downing it. There were penalties.

Harrison Mevis’ made a 50-yard field goal, and Luke Bauer’s 73-yard punt in the fourth quarter helped lift this team out of a lower grade.

Grade: C-

The Star has partnered with the Columbia Daily Tribune for coverage of Missouri Tigers athletics.