Up till its third game of the season, Missouri football had yet to truly face adversity in a game, having won each of its first two against opponents Murray State and Buffalo in dominating shutout fashion, by a combined score of 89-0.

That trend ended on Saturday afternoon against the Boston College Eagles, who also entered the contest undefeated and proved why in the opening quarter when they gave the Tigers a couple of early punches in the mouth. Despite early hiccups, the Tigers prevailed 27-21 over the Eagles on Saturday afternoon at Faurot. 

The first came from an early gamble by the Eagles (2-1). A 4th and 4 on an opposition’s twelve yard line, usually smells like an incoming field goal, but not this time for Boston College. Quarterback Thomas Castellanos connected with receiver Jerand Bradley to open the scoring on the play, opening the scoring for the Eagles with 7:31 remaining in the first quarter.

There’s a lot of stuff to take off the page,” Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “ We’re in a zone, it’s inexcusable for that to be completed.” 

Another aspect of the game the Tigers will look to forget is the penalties. In total, the Tigers had seven penalties, four coming on the offensive side of the ball for 53 yards and three on the defensive side for 25 yards. 

“The penalties are on me at the end of the day,” Drinkwitz said. “That’s the bottom line, that was selfish football.”

There might have been negatives early on, but what carried the Tigers (3-0) to victory was the response of the team. Down 14-3 with 9:44 remaining in the 2nd quarter, the Tigers defense needed to make a play and the interception by Tre’Von Johnson not only did that, but shifted the momentum of the contest. 

Following this turnover, Tigers quarterback Brady Cook found receiver Luther Burden on the right side in the flat and bobbed and weaved 19 yards through the Eagles defense for the score. A fake pitch by Nate Noel to Cook in the wildcat formation, tied the game up at 14. 

The Eagles stalled on the following drive and kicker Blake Craig drilled a 57-yard field goal through the uprights, providing the last big spark of momentum in the last few seconds before the first half’s conclusion for the Tigers, one of his four field goals on the day. 

“There were a lot of questions about [Blake’s] field goals last week and I said I wasn’t really concerned about it because I know he’s got the leg to hit that 57 yarder at the end of the half,” Drinkwitz said. “I think it gave our team a lot of confidence going into the half.” 

The run game of the Tigers proved to be a vital piece of the offensive pie, getting 176 yards on the ground to the Eagles 46. Nate Noel rushed for double digit yardage three times in the game, and ended the game with 121 yards on 22 carries. 

“I think the [offensive line] did a really good job, obviously we got our outside zone working,” Drinkwitz said. “Nate and Marcus did a really good job countering, we weren’t able to get up to the second level as effectively in the second half, but did enough to win the game.” 

In a second half that produced less offensive action, with Missouri outscoring Boston College 10-7, the Tigers conversion on 3rd and 7, with Cook hitting Burden on a route to the right, was the final blow in a game the Tigers lead, 27-21 right before the two-minute warning. On the biggest drive of the young season, the Tigers shut the door on the Eagles, maintaining their undefeated record.

The Tigers first SEC matchup of the season will be next Saturday against Vanderbilt at Faurot at 3:15 p.m