There are two ways to view Missouri’s last two wins, which were both comebacks: one against Boston College and a double-overtime 30-27 win over Vanderbilt in their SEC opener on Saturday night.
One perspective is that the Tigers were strong enough to overcome their mistakes. The other is that their opponents didn’t take advantage of those mistakes.
Regardless, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz knows there’s a lot to improve on before facing No. 25 Texas A&M in two weeks, along with fourth-ranked Alabama and No. 15 Oklahoma later this season.
Rival teams with more talent might take advantage of the penalties and mental errors Missouri has been making.
“We have to take a hard look at the Missouri Tigers, and we have to figure out why we’re not executing on third downs, in the red area. Why we’re missing tackles, busting assignments,” Drinkwitz said. “I’m not even kind of worried about Texas A&M.
I’m concerned about our team enjoying a win, being 4-0 — which is as good as we can be record-wise, but we’re not as good as we can be playwise. We have to settle in on that and see what we can do to improve.”
The Tigers (4-0, 1-0 SEC) managed to win against Vanderbilt (2-2, 0-1) when Blake Craig made a 37-yard field goal in the second overtime, after missing three earlier attempts. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt’s Brock Taylor missed a 31-yarder that would have kept the game alive.
“What we want is out front of us. That’s the message,” said Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea after the game. “We’re all hurt. We’re all in pain right now. But we’ll deal with that in the next three or four hours.”
Despite the mistakes that almost cost them the game, the Tigers still have their goals ahead of them. Vanderbilt hasn’t beaten a team ranked this high since defeating No. 6 South Carolina on October 20, 2007.
On the Commodores’ second possession, Missouri missed a coverage assignment in the middle of the field, allowing Diego Pavia to connect with Joseph McVay for a 65-yard touchdown catch that deflated the crowd at Faurot Field.
Later in the half, returner Theo Wease Jr. mishandled a short kickoff, letting it bounce past him almost to the goal line. Wease eventually picked it up and ran sideways, narrowly avoiding a safety before getting tackled at the Missouri 2-yard line.
The Tigers made their biggest mistake at the end of the first half. After tying the game at 10-10, they forced Vanderbilt to go three-and-out. Missouri quickly got a first down but faced a fourth-and-3 near midfield with just 12 seconds left.
Instead of punting, Cook quickly snapped the ball and was sacked with 8 seconds remaining. This turnover gave Vanderbilt enough time to execute a short pass play, leading to a 57-yard field goal by Brock Taylor that put them ahead at halftime.
“Totally my fault. That was a really haphazard decision by me,” Drinkwitz said, “and the team bailed me out. Bottom line.”
These mistakes came just a week after a series of errors nearly cost the Tigers their 27-21 win over Boston College.
In that game, there was a broken play when the Eagles dropped the snap but still managed to throw a 67-yard touchdown pass. Missouri also had eight penalties for 78 yards, including two personal fouls and two unsportsmanlike conduct calls.
Craig was 4 for 4 on field goals in that game, hitting a 56-yarder that earned him SEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
The freshman kicker had a tough time against Vanderbilt, hitting an early 25-yard attempt off the upright and missing from 40 and 46 yards in the fourth quarter, where either kick could have given Missouri a 23-20 lead.
Vanderbilt started overtime with a touchdown pass from Pavia to Gabe Fisher, but Brady Cook quickly responded for the Tigers, throwing a perfect 25-yard pass to Luther Burden II, who was wide open down the sideline.
In the second overtime, the Tigers went three-and-out, leading to Craig making a 37-yard kick that put them ahead. When their defense held the Commodores back, partly due to an offensive pass interference call, Taylor’s miss from 31 yards allowed Missouri to escape with the win.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” said Cook, who threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns. “I think everybody knows we can be a lot better. We have to put ourselves in better situations. At the end of the day, we have to go and execute the game plan and score more points. That’s all.”
