Missouri Tigers beat Kentucky Wildcats to become bowl eligible: Takeaways from MU win
Punters are athletes, too.
It had the makings of a mauling after two drives apiece. Mizzou football punter Luke Bauer can get a lion’s share of the credit for making sure it wasn’t, seemingly lighting a fire under the Missouri defense and offense, which both overcame sluggish starts.
The Tigers needed a wake up call, got one through some punting trickery, then went on to beat Kentucky 38-21 under the lights Saturday at Kroger Field.
Missouri (6-1, 2-1 SEC) is bowl eligible five games earlier than in either of its past two seasons.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Tricky MU Tigers
Mizzou’s offense was lifeless — without a pulse, not breathing, comatose.
Naturally, the Tigers found their spark early in the second quarter … from the punter.
Luke Bauer, a sophomore who only assumed punting duties in Week 4 against Memphis, sold it well. He had the ball dangling in front of him, like any punt. Meanwhile, speedy wide receiver Marquis Johnson was hauling down the left sideline.
Nobody saw it coming. Definitely not Kentucky corner Andru Phillips.
Luke Bauer let loose. He dropped it in Johnson’s stride from 39 yards out. Missouri was on the board.
Up until that point — 18 minutes, 22 seconds of game time — Missouri had managed just one complete pass, which went for 6 yards.
Offense improves in 2nd half
With 1 minute, 40 seconds to go in the half, the Tigers finally showed life on offense. Quarterback Brady Cook rattled off six quick plays — completing 5 of 6 passes and rushing once — before he found Theo Wease Jr. in the end zone to give MU a halftime lead.
The Tigers, down 14-10, had ventured into the red zone once before the two-minute drill came. That one fell flat, resulting in a field goal. In their first three possessions, Missouri managed just 10 plays with two three-and-outs and a picked Cook pass.
Mizzou managed a much more productive second half.
At the goal line, after Kentucky had just taken a 21-20 lead, Cook faked a handoff on a jet sweep to Luther Burden III, quickly switching course and taking it to the right pylon. The Tigers went for two, and after some aid from a roughing-the-passer call, running back Cody Schrader put MU up seven.
On the next drive, Schrader took a carry right up the gut for a 19-yard score on the fourth play of the drive.
Missouri finished the day with 325 total yards of offense, as Cook had a five-week low of 168 yards, one touchdown and one interception in wet and windy conditions.
Defense overcomes awful start
Before Bauer, Mizzou looked like it was going to lose by several lengths in horse country.
Kentucky running back Ray Davis ran the Tigers ragged for two straight drives, grabbing a touchdown and a majority of UK’s touches — most of them successful.
Davis finished with 117 rushing yards. He had 70 after two Kentucky possessions.
Missouri’s defense recovered nicely from a slow start to hold the Wildcats to six straight scoreless possessions. And other than a brief spark of life in the third quarter, UK didn’t manage much else.
The pass rush harassed quarterback Devin Leary for the rest of the night. Darius Robinson managed two sacks and true freshman Philip Roche got to Leary for another. The Tigers hurried the QB three more times beyond that. Leary completed 14 passes for 120 yards.
MU safety Joseph Charleston forced and recovered a fumble on the very first play of the half, and that started a trend of turnovers.
Cornerback Marcus Clarke came up with an interception midway through the fourth quarter. Abrams-Draine grabbed his fourth interception of the season not long after.
This story was originally published October 14, 2023 at 10:05 PM.