Mizzou Tigers roll at UMass, but star receiver Luther Burden III hurt in 2nd half
Under the cover of red and orange fall leaves in New England, it was Tigers gold that shined brightest as No. 21 Missouri waltzed to its fifth victory of the season at UMass on Saturday.
As indicated by the 45-3 final score, the first-ever meeting between the two programs was never close.
Missouri took the lead less than a minute into the game when star wide receiver Luther Burden III carried a jet-sweep 61 yards to the end zone on the Tigers’ second play from scrimmage.
Missouri ran wild from there. Literally.
The Tigers (5-1, 1-1 SEC) totaled 231 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground, led by Georgia State transfer Marcus Carroll (more on him in a moment). They averaged 6.1 yards per rush, and five different Missouri players had at least 15 rushing yards vs. UMass (1-6).
“The first play that Luther scored on, I think he set the tone,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said.
Burden, who also had five catches for 59 yards, accumulated 68 of those 231 MU rushing yards. The projected first-round NFL Draft selection moved to seventh all-time for career receptions for the Tigers.
“Luther Burden is him,” Carroll said.
Yet Burden’s afternoon ended early: He was hurt early in the third quarter on a pass over the middle of the field. Drinkwitz seemed to offer hope the injury wasn’t too series when he said, “He’ll be just fine,” during an in-game TV interview conducted not long after Burden had left the field.
Burden was evaluated on the sideline following the hit but did not make his way to the locker room. Pressed after the game, Drinkwitz did not provide much context about the extent of Burden’s injury.
“(The) SEC injury report will be (out) on Wednesday,” the coach said.
Four different Tigers scored touchdowns Saturday. Aside from Burden, Carroll punched in a pair of short-yardage scores in the first half and rattled off a thunderous 35-yard TD run in the second half to cap his best performance in a Missouri uniform.
The Union City, Georgia, native totaled 15 carries for 91 yards and three TDs in his first start of the season.
The Tigers’ leading rusher, Nate Noel, was in line to get the start but did not see the field due to tightness in his back. The Appalachian State transfer did not appear on MU’s pre-game injury report.
After the game, Drinkwitz said Noel’s back had tightened up on the flight to Massachusetts. He also noted that the Tigers’ run game didn’t miss a beat.
“Marcus Carroll did exactly what we needed him to do,” Drinkwitz said.
Mizzou quarterback Brady Cook had a bounce-back outing after a rough showing in College Station, Texas last week. Against UMass, he completed 14 of 19 passes for 219 yards and a two touchdowns.
Cook also rushed three times for 16 yards, sparking Missouri to its second-highest point total of the season. But it was Carroll’s rushing that Cook was talking about afterward.
“I’m super happy for Marcus — you know, he needed that,” Cook said. “It was awesome to see him get in the end zone three times.”
Cook’s performance was good for a blistering 205.2 passer rating Saturday, and backup quarterback Drew Pyne stepped in at the start of the fourth quarter with a 42-point lead.
Cook’s first touchdown of the game was a dump-off pass to sophomore receiver Joshua Manning, who found a seam and scooted 63 yards to the end zone. The play was MU’s longest pass completion of the season.
The reception also marked the first touchdown in a Mizzou uniform for Manning, a native of Lee’s Summit.
Cook later found tight end Brett Norfleet for an 8-yard touchdown pass. Norfleet had three receptions for 48 yards and the touchdown, his first score of the season.
Another Lee’s Summit native, true freshman five-star recruit Williams Nwaneri, recorded his first sack for MU late in the third quarter. Nwaneri was one of three Tigers to record a sack Saturday; Florida transfer Chris McClellan and senior Marcus Clarke had the others.
UMass quarterback Taisun Phommachanh, a former four-star recruit who had stints at Clemson and Georgia Tech before landing at UMass, had a rough showing against the Tigers. He completed just 12 of his 22 passes and was intercepted.
Graduate linebacker Corey Flagg Jr. accounted for the interception, returning it 80 yards to set up a 42-yard field goal by redshirt freshman kicker Blake Craig to end the first half.
“I need to go to speed school,” quipped Flagg, whose designs on a pick-six were dashed when he was tackled from behind by Minutemen running back CJ Hester.
Phommachanh, meanwhile, was removed from the game halfway through the fourth quarter.
Missouri’s 42-point victory was its second-largest of the season, trailing only a season-opening 51-point blowout against FCS foe Murray State.
Saturday’s midseason non-conference game was set up in 2018 by former MU athletic director Jim Sterk. The Minutemen are playing as an independent this season and will rejoin the MAC starting in 2025.
The Tigers are now just one victory shy of bowl eligibility. MU can clinch that bowl bid next Saturday in Columbia against visiting Auburn.
Copyright 2024 Columbia Missourian
This story was originally published October 12, 2024 at 3:50 PM.