Mizzou finds end zone, can’t snap losing skid against Mississippi State

For weeks, Missouri’s defense has said it isn’t bothered by the small margin for error provided by a struggling offense, but the pressure reached a tipping point Thursday against No. 24 Mississippi State at Memorial Stadium.

Quarterback Dak Prescott broke open the dam by tossing four touchdowns in a rain-drenched 31-13 rout that bumped the Tigers’ skid reached four straight games.

“Perfection is always the goal,” said sophomore defensive end Charles Harris, who finished with a sack and 1 1/2 tackles for a loss. “We come up short sometimes. That’s the way it is. … They outplayed us tonight, but there are no excuses.”

Missouri, which hadn’t given up more than 21 points in a game this season, allowed a season-worst 430 yards. The four touchdowns matched the total number of offensive touchdowns scored by South Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Vanderbilt during the entire month of October.

“We made a lot of mistakes that led to big plays,” junior linebacker Michael Scherer said. “That’s one thing we haven’t done all year. That’s why we’ve been doing so well, because we don’t let up big plays.”

Prescott completed seven passes of at least 15 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown to junior Fred Ross on the game’s opening drive and a 28-yard TD strike to junior De’Runnya Wilson midway through the second quarter.

Prescott, a senior and arguably the best quarterback in the SEC, finished 27 of 40 passing for 303 yards, becoming the first 300-yard passer Missouri has allowed since Oklahoma State’s Clint Chelf threw for 377 yards in the 2014 Cotton Bowl.

By contrast, Missouri freshman quarterback Drew Lock, who is entrenched as the starter now that Maty Mauk has been suspended for the season, got roughed up again.

Lock finished 11 of 26 for 107 yards, the lowest passing output for the Tigers this season. He threw two interceptions, including a back-breaking miscue on the offense’s first play in the second half.

At least, Missouri ended its month-long touchdown drought.

Senior running back Russell Hansbrough’s 14-yard touchdown slog, his first of the season, with 1:50 left in the first half snapped a streak of 47 consecutive drives without a touchdown.

“I know Russell felt good to be back in the end zone and I was happy for him,” said senior linebacker Kentrell Brothers, who recorded a game-high 14 tackles and set up a pair of first-half Andrew Baggett field goals with a forced fumble and blocked punt.

The Tigers, who hadn’t scored a touchdown in more than 15 quarters and nearly 227 minutes of game action since the 3:36 mark in the third quarter Oct. 3 against South Carolina, had gone three straight games without a touchdown for the first time since 1937.

It wasn’t enough to snap the program’s longest losing skid in more than a decade.

The Tigers, 4-5 overall and 1-5 in the SEC, have lost four straight for the first time since a five-game skid during the 2004 season.

Missouri must win two of its three remaining games — Nov. 14 vs. BYU at Arrowhead Stadium, Nov. 21 vs. Tennessee and Nov. 27 at Arkansas — to become bowl eligible for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons.

“Nothing changes,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. “You go back and you make yourself as good as you can. You coach better, you try to design better, you try to get your players to play better. It’s the same formula — you have a great attitude, you work your butt off. That’s what you do. I’ve been doing it since the day I’ve been coaching. That’s what I was taught and that’s what we do. There’s not magic dust.”

Whatever magic the Tigers had Thursday washed away with the torrential rain at halftime.

Missouri only trailed 14-13, but Wilson burned cornerback Logan Cheadle for a 63-yard gain on third-and-11 on the opening drive of the second half.

Four plays later, Prescott connected with Wilson on a 5-yard slant in the end zone.

Needing a response, a backpedaling Lock underthrew a deep ball into triple coverage on Missouri’s first play in the third quarter and was picked off for the second time.

“I tried to make something out of nothing and, at the last second, I knew I should have thrown it out of bounds,” said Lock, who was sacked a season-high five times. “I tried to get it there, but it was like my mind was battling my arm. It was just me being an ignorant little 18-year-old.”

Mississippi State, 7-2 and 3-2 in conference, tacked on a field goal after the turnover and Prescott’s fourth touchdown came a drive later on an 8-yard lob to a diving Fred Brown.

It didn’t matter that Missouri finished with a season-high 215 yards rushing in 45 carries, including a team- and career-high 85 yards in six carries by senior Tyler Hunt.

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 9:54 PM with the headline "Mizzou finds end zone, can’t snap losing skid against Mississippi State."