Missouri Tigers football grades: Analysis from Mizzou’s win at Mississippi State
Coming off a heartbreaking loss to South Carolina, the Missouri Tigers redeemed themselves with a 39-20 win at Mississippi State to close out their road schedule for 2024.
MU coach Eli Drinkwitz indicated that everything just came together nicely on Saturday in Starkville, Mississippi. The Tigers improved to 8-3, 4-3 in the Southeastern Conference.
“I think we’re just clicking,” he said. “I really think we’re just clicking. We’re getting the right looks, calling the right plays.”
That’s a good thing, with the Tigers regular-season and SEC finale at home against Arkansas on tap.
Here are our grades from Mizzou’s win against the Bulldogs:
Missouri offense
Outstanding performance by the Tigers’ offense.
Missouri totaled 475 yards, highlighted by 207 on the ground. Transfer running backs Marcus Carroll and Nate Noel were the stars of the show: Carroll rumbled for 61 yards and three touchdowns and Noel rolled to 95 yards.
QB Brady Cook was 15-for-20, throwing for 268 yards and a touchdown. Luther Burden III made a fantastic end zone grab on Cook’s TD throw. The Tigers gambled twice on fourth down and converted both opportunities.
In general, this was just a very efficient showing from an offense that took advantage of its time of possession against the Bulldogs. MU possessed the ball for 41 minutes, 51 seconds to 18:09 for Mississippi State.
Grade: A
Missouri defense
Once again, incredibly efficient.
After allowing their hosts a field goal on MSU’s opening drive, the Tigers limited the Bulldogs’ time with the ball throughout. MU forced three three-and-outs in the first half. The strong defensive showing was highlighted by Daylan Carnell’s 68-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
Mizzou limited the Bulldogs to one touchdown in the second half.
Grade: A
Missouri special teams
Placekicker Blake Craig went 1-for-2 on his field goal attempts Saturday, missing the longer of the two — a 44-yard try — in the third quarter. He made all four of his extra point kicks.
Luke Bauer punted twice for 71 total yards.
Grade: B
Area of improvement
The Tigers will want more consistency from Craig next season. This year, the redshirt freshman is 1-for-7 on field goal attempts from 40-49 yards. Interestingly enough, he’s 4-for-7 from 50-plus yards.
Player of the game
Honorable mention to Carnell for the fumble-return TD, but our player of the game has to be Carroll after his three-TD performance.
