COLUMBIA, MO – Darius Robinson summed it up best when he said “Agh” at the post game press conference. No, the Missouri Tigers did not lose, but Mizzou fans probably aren’t feeling great after the 23-19 victory over Middle Tennessee State. 

These two teams had met twice in the past. Both games were tightly contested. In 2003, Mizzou was able to win by one in overtime, and then in 2016 the Tigers lost to Middle Tennessee State by six. Mizzou was looking to go out tonight and come away with a convincing victory before preparing to take on the no. 15 ranked Kansas State Wildcats. Instead, the Tigers were met with a four quarter slugfest.

The Tigers struggled with the pressure that Middle Tennessee State brought. Middle Tennessee State saw that their pressure was getting to Mizzou and with 6:07 to go in the game, the Blue Raiders sent a blitz. Sam Brumfield forced the ball out of Brady Cook’s hands and the fumble went out of the endzone for a safety to quickly make it a four point game. 

“I got pushed out and was trying to throw it away and just didn’t throw it away soon enough,” said Cook of the safety. “The other guy made a good play and got his hands on it too soon and I gotta throw it away sooner.”

Coach Eliah Drinkwitz also noted that there were problems with the protection tonight. “I knew they [Middle Tennessee State] were a big pressure team and it didn’t feel like we were gonna struggle as bad as we did with it.” When Coach Drinkwitz was asked about possible personnel changes to the offensive line he said, “I’d say there’s a good probability there’s gonna be some personnel changes.” Coach Drinkwitz went on to say, “Production is still not what it needs to be, we’re gonna compete for the job.” 

The Tigers also struggled with getting off the field at times. On the Blue Raiders’ three scoring drives, they ran 39 plays, converted on six third downs, and had the ball for 17 minutes and eight seconds. While frustrating, credit Middle Tennessee State’s ability to make made good plays. Nicholas Vattiato had some great passes downfield and was able to run the read option very well. Justin Olson was a huge story in this one. Down the stretch, Middle Tennessee State was able to locate him and Vattiato was able to deliver a great ball.

The best performance out of the Tigers came from Luther Burden III. He hauled in eight catches for 117 yards with a long of 44 yards. This was Burden’s first 100+ yard receiving game. 

“I love working with Lu everyday, I just love pushing him to the next limit just so that he can be as great as we all know he can be.,” said teammate Theo Wease Jr. 

Cody Schrader also reached the 4,000 career rushing yards mark. Coach Drinkwitz was very proud of his senior captain and went on to say, “Once he was here [on the Mizzou football team] instead of just wanting to be on the team he wanted to make an impact on the team… it gets really powerful and I’m very proud to coach him.” 

This is the first time since 2018 that the Tigers have started out the regular season 2-0.