Mizzou had a chance to make a statement in Starkville, but the Tigers left with the same old problem: a ranked opponent, another early hole, and a 31-24 loss to No. 24 Mississippi State.
The No. 19 Tigers entered the night at 4-0 with plenty hanging in the balance, including their first ranked road win since the pre-Drinkwitz era and the possibility of a Gameday visit next week against Florida.
Instead, the night turned into a familiar story. Mizzou dug too deep a ditch early, fought back, and still couldn’t quite climb out.
The first crack in the night came from a sloppy start that never really let up. Mizzou was flagged eight times for 91 yards, and several of those penalties were backbreakers.
Two holding calls came in the red zone. Another wiped out a drive in the fourth quarter and helped set up the first of Mississippi State’s two touchdowns to grab the lead.
Then there was one more hold on the final drive before the Hail Mary attempt.
The Tigers also spent too much of the night making life harder on themselves with conservative calls, especially on second-and-long. Chip Lindsey dialed up seven running plays on second and eight or longer in the first half.
One got erased by a penalty, and only one counted as successful, meaning it picked up at least half the yards needed for a first down. After halftime, there was only one more such call, and that one didn’t work either.
Eight runs on second and long, one hold, one successful play - and a whole lot of third-and-long situations that stalled drives before they could breathe.
That pattern fed into another problem: Mizzou’s slow start. For the third straight game, the Tigers were chasing early.
This time the deficit was even steeper, as Mississippi State jumped ahead 14-0 in the first quarter. Kamario Taylor dropped a gorgeous deep ball to Sanfrisco Magee for a 43-yard touchdown, with Santana Banner in single coverage against one of MSU’s fastest receivers in what proved to be an ill-conceived defensive call.
Mizzou answered with a long march that ended in a missed 52-yard field goal, and Mississippi State wasted no time striking again with another long drive and another touchdown.
The one bright spot up front was Daeden Hopkins, who stepped into a massive role after Darris Smith was ruled out Friday with a lower body injury. The second-year Hermann native already had to carry more of the load, and then Langdon Kitchen went down with a leg injury in the first quarter, putting even more pressure on Hopkins.
He delivered. Hopkins had two sacks in the first half, including a huge play at the end of the half to keep Mississippi State off the board, then added another sack in the third quarter and a fourth in the fourth when the Bulldogs were moving the ball.
Mizzou’s defense, for a stretch, did enough to keep the game within reach. After that shaky opening, the group settled in and played well through the middle of the contest.
The Tigers shut out the Bulldogs in the second and third quarters, and the pass rush and coverage both tightened up. But Mississippi State’s tempo eventually started to take its toll, and Fluff Bothwell’s 230-pound frame kept hammering tacklers.
The Bulldogs finished with back-to-back touchdown drives around a Mizzou three-and-out, and the secondary finally cracked again late.
On offense, the clearest connection in the Tigers’ new look attack kept showing up. Austin Simmons and Cayden Lee were the story again, with Lee catching 11 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns.
When Olugbode was mostly bottled up by future NFLer cornerback Kelley Jones, Lee did his damage from the slot and kept Mizzou alive. Even so, the final stretch brought some shaky moments, as Simmons appeared to lock in on Lee and put a few passes in harm’s way with near-interceptions in key spots.
In Other News...
Daeden Hopkins Is Becoming Missouris One Sure Defensive Difference-Maker
Daeden Hopkins keeps turning himself into the kind of edge rusher Missouri can build a defense around. The sophomore defensive end just picked up his second SEC defensive lineman of the week honor after a breakout showing against Mississippi State, where he finished with 3.5 sacks. Through four games, Hopkins already leads the Tigers in sacks with six, a sign that his impact is growing fast and that opposing offenses have to account for him on every snap.
For Missouri, that kind of presence changes the shape of a game plan. The Tigers have been waiting for a true difference-maker up front, and Hopkins is starting to look like the most reliable one they have. Around the program, there was also a lighter bit of news as Missouri athletics announced an NIL partnership with Friskies involving Truman the Tiger and a charitable donation program for shelter cats, a reminder that the off-field branding piece is humming too even as Hopkins keeps supplying the on-field headlines. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou Faces A Huge Bounce-Back Test Against Unbeaten Florida
After a frustrating 31-24 loss to Mississippi State, Missouri gets a chance to reset quickly with a top-10 opponent coming to Columbia. The Tigers, ranked No. 25, will have their hands full with No. 8 Florida, a team that has opened unbeaten under new coach Jon Sumrall and brings a much bigger spotlight into Memorial Stadium.
The stakes are obvious for Missouri, which needs a bounce-back performance to keep its momentum from slipping further after the setback. Florida arrives with the cleaner resume, and the matchup gives the Tigers an immediate measuring stick against one of the SECs early front-runners, with national attention following along on ABC and FUBO. [Read more 🡒]
Missouris Top 25 Standing Is About To Face Its Biggest Test
Missouris spot at No. 25 in the AP Top 25 has come with a little extra scrutiny, the kind that follows a team sitting on the edge of the poll and drawing skepticism from outside the program. The Tigers have managed to hang around the rankings, but the conversation around them has turned as much toward perception as performance, with some wondering whether their presence is helping the broader SEC picture more than their own rsum.
Now comes the kind of game that can settle plenty of arguments. Florida arrives as the next heavyweight on Missouris schedule, and the Tigers standing figures to be on the line in a way that goes beyond one weeks ranking. A strong showing would give Missouri a real case to stay put, while anything less could make the rest of the season a much tougher climb in the eyes of the voters. [Read more 🡒]