COLUMBIA, Mo-

Coming off of a slow-burning win against South Carolina 29-20, the Missouri Tigers (4-0) dipped back into the bakery to pull out another cupcake and take on UMass (0-3) for the first time ever in Columbia. 

The Tigers and the Minutemen had only played once before this, last season in Amherst, Massachusetts. 

In that inaugural matchup, despite the homefield “advantage” of just over 16,000, it was all Missouri Tigers as they bullied UMass 45-3 and outgained it 461-237. 

That game, the Tigers closed as a 27.5 point favorite according to ESPN, but on Saturday, Mizzou closed at -44.5, so the Columbia faithful were expecting a similar result to the year prior.

That is exactly what they got.

Despite the lackluster opponent, Missouri wasted absolutely no time putting UMass away. 

The Tigers won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half, a choice that immediately looked like the right call.

UMass only gained 4 yards in three plays and was forced to punt.  Mizzou then responded with a seven-play drive that took just over two minutes and resulted in a Jamal Roberts touchdown. 

After holding UMass to another three-and-out, it looked like the Tigers’ second offensive drive would be the exact same. However, Beau Pribula misread a third-down throw inside the 25 and was picked off by Timmy Hinspeter. 

“You don’t have to be Superman on every play,”

 Coach Eli Drinkwitz said when asked about it.

He continued on to say, 

“Throwing the ball away is a good play.”

What very well could have been a pick-six was stopped by a Jamal Roberts shoestring tackle and set UMass up at the 21-yard line. After a pass interference on third and goal from the seven, AJ Hairston found Max Dowling in the back of the endzone for a Minutemen touchdown. The PAT by Derrick Morris was blocked, though, letting Missouri retain the lead up 7-6. 

After getting the ball back, Mizzou had virtually the same drive as the first time around. Quick, methodical, and ending in a touchdown, but this time by Ahmad Hardy as the Tigers extended their lead 14-6 going into the field flip. 

UMass responded promptly with their longest drive time-wise up to that point: a three-minute 21-second drive that resulted in a punt. 

Missouri decided to go on a major time-consuming drive of its own, but its drive was much more successful.

Methodically gnawing off over seven and a half minutes, Ahmad Hardy punctuated the drive with a one-yard touchdown score to put Mizzou up 21-6. 

The remainder of the second half, the two teams traded punts as the two teams entered the intermission with the aforementioned score. 

Coming out of the half, Mizzou wasted no time on a drive that lasted roughly three and a half minutes and led Ahmad Hardy to his third rushing touchdown of the night as well as his seventh straight 100-yard rushing game to go up 28-6. 

After that, though, the next three drives between the two teams were reminiscent of Big 10 West football. 

The two teams had nine combined plays that resulted in 10 combined yards and three punts. Missouri was able to put more together on their next drive, though, as they got 36 yards on 10 plays to get to the UMass 38, but with a 4th and 14 and a 22-point lead, they elected to punt and pinned the Minutemen at the 4-yard line. 

After putting Hairston under an immense amount of pressure, Santana Banner robbed him on third down to set the Tigers up at the nine-yard line.

Pribula ultimately found Brett Norfleet and scored the first passing touchdown of the night. 

UMass punted on its next drive, and DaMarion Fowlkes returned it to the opposing 37, and the Tigers elected to let Matt Zollers take over the offense going into the fourth quarter.

On his first drive of the night, Zollers took his Tigers down the field quickly and allowed Tavorus Jones to become the third running back to score tonight with a two-yard punch in to go up 42-6.

With just 10 minutes left, Mizzou got the ball back and pulled their quarterback once again, giving Tommy Lock the reins, mostly just to hand the ball off to Marquise Davis. 

“Tommy Lock has been here for four years, I think he’s been a really strong glue guy for us.” Coach Drinkwitz said. 

After the Lock substitution, both teams seemed to just run the clock out, taking a very long time between plays and letting the time tick out.

Missouri ended up winning 42-6 to move to 5-0 ahead of its bye week. 

Despite the blowout win, the Tigers’ defense refuses to let up. 

“Don’t get complacent,” Khalil Jacobs said.

UMass falls to 0-4 on the season, extending an eight-game losing streak and a 15-game losing streak against FBS opponents. The Minutemen are now backed against a wall, looking for their first winning season since 2012. 

Mizzou, on the other hand, extends an eight-game winning streak with 15 straight wins at home.

This now pushes Mizzou to the second-longest active win streak in the country, just behind Oregon at 18.

Mizzou also has the longest active win streak in the SEC.

They host Alabama on October 11th, hoping to beat the Tide for the first time since 1975 and the first time ever both in Columbia as well as as a member of the SEC.

This win would also push Mizzou to bowl eligibility without having to leave Columbia.