Mizzou’s identity helped it beat South Carolina. But it almost cost the Tigers, too

If you wanted to find a military academy in the state, you’d have to visit Mexico, Missouri, where Missouri Military Academy has operated since 1889.

But about 40 minutes south of Mexico, there’s been a football team impersonating a military academy. Entering Saturday, Mizzou trailed only Army in average time of possession per game (37 minutes). Its rushing attack, led by Ahmad Hardy and Jamal Roberts, was one of the most productive in the country — MU was one of five teams to average at least 300 rushing yards per game.

A large part of their identity was ball control, and it showed against South Carolina. Mizzou won the time of possession battle by almost 11 minutes, and the Tigers ran for 285 yards in a 29-20 win. On the other hand, South Carolina rushed for minus-9 yards.

Once again, MU controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, mitigating the impact of superstars like quarterback LaNorris Sellers and defensive end Dylan Stewart.

“We’re not going to fear anything,” said linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez, who had one of five Mizzou sacks on the evening. “We’re just going to go out there and do what we’ve been doing.”

But even with Mizzou being able to do what it’s been doing — manhandling the trenches and milking the clock — the results were somewhat spoiled. On three trips to the red zone, the Tigers settled for field goals (although one of them was a game-sealing kick by Robert Meyer late in the fourth quarter). While they were still able to pick up points, three is obviously less than seven.

Being able to control the ball is one thing, but capitalizing on big chances is another. For example, it’s what separates Army, who went 12-2 last season, from Air Force, who went 5-7 — the Black Knights averaged over 12 more points per game than the Falcons despite both being at the top of college football in time of possession.

Around this time last season, settling for field goals in the red zone was a major issue for Mizzou, as six of its 20 red-zone scores ended in a field goal conversion. After 11 of its first 14 red-zone scores were touchdowns entering Saturday, Mizzou’s old wart popped up early against South Carolina.

“We’ve got to run the ball a little bit better there,” coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “But we figured it out.”

There’s another — and arguably worse — spoiler to this recipe: allowing explosive plays and committing penalties on defense. The lengthy possessions don’t mean much if the opposition can move the ball in chunks over a smaller period of time.

That’s exactly what happened to Mizzou.

The Tigers’ defense committed three penalties, one of which came on third-and-9 and another on second-and-16. Mizzou was able to get South Carolina behind the sticks, an issue that had plagued the Gamecocks through three games.

The problem for the Tigers wasn’t just gifting the opposition yards via penalty. They often let up big plays, and sometimes it nullified their efforts on early downs.

“When we watch tape tomorrow, I’m going to be on some secondary coaches’ rear ends, because this is getting ridiculous how porous our pass defense is,” Drinkwitz said. “That’s got to get shored up in a hurry.”

By night’s end, Mizzou allowed eight pass plays of at least 15 yards, four of which came on third down. The most egregious was a 33-yard completion on third-and-37, which got South Carolina back into field goal range. William Joyce connected on a 36-yarder to put South Carolina ahead at the end of the third quarter.

Earlier, Toriano Pride Jr. was beaten on a 49-yard touchdown pass. All in all, Sellers threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged a whopping 16.8 yards per completion.

“That’s the thing that’s disappointing,” Drinkwitz said. “You look up ... our stats and numbers and time of possession are dominating, and yet, the scoreboard’s not. It’s because we’re giving up explosive plays down the field for touchdowns. We’ve got to get that off the tape.”

This isn’t supposed to completely throw MU’s successes out the window. The ground game was pulverizing, as Hardy and Roberts turned defenders into trampolines all game long. Hardy led the way in rushing with 138 yards and a have-to-see-it-to-believe-it touchdown. Saturday marked his ninth straight game crossing the century mark.

“I didn’t think he was going to be this good, let’s be honest,” Drinkwitz said. “The dude’s running through people like he’s a dump truck.”

Plus, South Carolina made its own swath of mistakes, committing 14 penalties and going just 3-of-11 on third down. Similar to the Kansas game, Mizzou caught a handful of breaks in coverage with misfires from the quarterback. The Tigers also stonewalled the Gamecocks on the ground, as not a single white jersey had a run of more than 7 yards.

“The message was: ‘Stop the run, have some fun,’” defensive tackle Chris McClellan said.

Eight tackles for loss and many run stops later, it’s safe to say they had some fun.

But even with all of the good, how Mizzou fixes the bad will define the rest of its season. The Tigers clearly have an identity, but it’s two-faced. If Mizzou can clean up its mistakes in the secondary and score touchdowns in the red zone more often, another double-digit-win season could be in the cards.

If not, the Tigers could be unsatisfied with their hand by season’s end.

“This can either be a highlight or a launching point,” Drinkwitz said. “We can either be satisfied with our ability to win this game, or we can go back to work and launch ourselves into the rest of the SEC.

“It’s great to be 1-0 with things to learn from.”

Copyright 2025 Columbia Missourian

This story was originally published September 21, 2025 at 7:15 AM.