Missouri’s report card looked nothing like the one from Week 2, and the biggest swing came in the spots that usually decide whether a game feels clean or clunky. Special teams bounced back in a big way against Troy, while the quarterback and wide receiver groups slid the other direction in an underwhelming win.
Austin Simmons had a rough afternoon by his standards. The only thing that kept him from an F was the fact that he didn’t throw an interception.
Missouri managed just 91 passing yards against a Troy secondary that had already allowed 335 passing yards to Sam Houston, and Simmons finished 10-for-19 with one touchdown. He was also kept clean, with pressure coming on only two dropbacks.
That was a sharp drop after his strong start to the season. Simmons had earned an A at quarterback last week and had been one of Missouri’s standouts through the first two games, piling up 544 combined yards and seven touchdowns in Weeks 1 and 2. Against Troy, though, he had the lowest grade on the team.
The problems weren’t limited to the quarterback. Eli Drinkwitz pointed to breakdowns from the receivers after the game.
"There was receivers falling down, receivers running routes too deep, quarterback throwing the ball too early," Drinkwitz said.
Simmons certainly missed some throws, either by sailing passes or not seeing open targets. But there were also plenty of snaps where Missouri’s pass-catchers simply didn’t separate or ran inefficient routes. Only four Missouri players finished with a catch, and among the wide receivers and tight ends, Cayden Lee, Donovan Olugbode and DaMarion Fowlkes were the only ones to record a reception.
The ground game told a much better story. Missouri averaged five yards per carry, its best mark of the season, and that number would have been even better if the Tigers hadn’t run out the clock at the end.
Jamal Roberts turned in his most complete outing yet, carrying 22 times for 128 yards with a long run of 20 yards. He was responsible for more than half of Missouri’s total yards and averaged 5.8 yards per carry, consistently threatening that number throughout the game.
The offensive line also did its job in protection. Missouri didn’t allow a sack, and Simmons was untouched throughout the night. Every lineman posted a PFF pass-blocking grade of at least 82, which stood out as the best PFF number of the game.
That unit was even better in the run game, opening clearer lanes for Roberts than Missouri had against Kansas. At times, he was able to go about five yards before being touched, a far cry from the backfield contact he dealt with in the previous game.
On defense, the line earned the second-best grade of the week and backed it up with steady pressure. Missouri finished with three sacks and nine tackles for loss, forcing quarterback Goose Crowder into a much tougher second half. Crowder threw for just 36 yards after halftime.
The front also helped choke off Troy’s rushing attack, holding the Trojans to 93 yards on 40 carries.
Nicholas Rodriguez was one of the brighter individual performers in the box score, finishing with 11 total tackles, second on the team. Robert Woodyard had a quieter night, but Rodriguez’s activity helped make the group a relative positive.
The secondary, though, had two costly breakdowns early. On the second play of the game, TK Keyes got behind Santana Banner for a 76-yard touchdown that put Missouri in chase mode almost immediately. Banner did bounce back with a team-high 16 tackles, but the coverage bust was a major blemish.
The next big mistake came just before halftime, when Sione Laulea lost a foot race to Howard Kinchen on a 55-yard score.
"Well, the first one, they were in a stack formation, we had man-to-man coverage, we played outside leverage. They threw basically routes on air (and) our free safety had a terrible angle.
He's supposed to be there to tackle it or get it down and didn't. And I mean, it's awful.
Bottom line, that's awful defense," Drinkwitz said. "And then at the end of half, they threw a vertical and again, we have no free safety help and we weren't able to get our eyes around and we didn't play through the hands to get the ball down.
Not good."
The best news for Missouri came on special teams, where the unit looked almost flawless after what Drinkwitz had called an "embarrassing" outing against Kansas. Punt returns, punts, field goals and extra points all held up well.
Fowlkes provided the biggest spark with a 68-yard punt-return touchdown that tied the game at 10-10. Brunno Reus punted seven times for 324 yards and placed five inside the 20, while Blake Craig went 2-for-2 on field goals and 3-for-3 on extra points.
In Other News...
Dennis Gates Just Landed Another In-State Recruiting Win For Missouri
Missouris in-state recruiting momentum kept rolling with another important addition from the Kansas City area. Cameron Barnes, a four-star forward from Lees Summit West High School, committed to the Tigers after being pursued steadily by Dennis Gates and his staff, a relationship that clearly mattered as Barnes weighed his next step.
Barnes pointed to the consistent recruiting effort and the culture Gates has built as key reasons for choosing Missouri, a sign the staffs approach continues to resonate close to home. He joins fellow four-star recruit Scottie Adkinson in Missouris 2027 class, giving the Tigers another high-end piece as they keep building around familiar territory. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzous New Ranking Puts Even More Pressure On What Comes Next
Missouris climb in the Week 3 AP Top 25 Poll was modest, but it still mattered: the Tigers moved from No. 20 to No. 19 after handling Troy, while also nudging up from No. 22 to No. 21 in the Week 3 LBM Coaches Poll. The rise keeps them in view nationally and adds a little more weight to every snap from here on out, especially with the SEC schedule about to stiffen in a hurry.
What comes next is where this ranking really starts to bite. Missouri is staring at a run of ranked opponents that includes No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Georgia and No. 4 Ole Miss, with Oklahoma waiting in the regular-season finale after the Tigers edged past the Sooners in the coaches poll. For a team trying to prove its place in the upper tier, the margin for error is about to get very small. [Read more 🡒]
Missouri Golf Has A Chance To Turn Its Home Event Into A Statement
Missouris womens golf team has given itself a real chance to make its home event count, opening the Johnie Imes Invitational by taking the lead after two rounds at 9-under par. The Tigers have been steady across the board, with senior Addie Dobson setting the pace for the group and other Missouri names, including Melanie Walker and Addie Surber, sitting near the top of the board as the tournament heads to its final day.
Dobson has separated herself from the field and put Missouri in position to turn a solid start into something more meaningful, especially with the final round still to play. Walker has also stayed in the mix after back-to-back 2-under 70s, giving the Tigers another contender to lean on as they try to finish off a strong showing in front of the home crowd. [Read more 🡒]