For 59 minutes and 30 seconds, Missouri played South Carolina relatively evenly. But, oh, those 30 seconds. A 31-13 loss hinged, really, on three plays early in the second quarter.
The Tigers took a 10-0 lead with 13:07 to go in the second quarter on a 61-yard pass from Drew Lock to tight end Jason Reese. On the ensuing kickoff, Deebo Samuel raced 97 yards for a touchdown. On Missouri’s next offensive play Lock was intercepted by. Samuel then scored from 25 yards out on a run on the next snap. With 12:37 to go in the first half it was 14-10 South Carolina and Missouri would never be as close again.
“Football’s about one or two plays,” wide receiver Emanuel Hall said. “The whole time the team was motivated to bounce back. We just weren’t consistent enough making plays all around.”
"It's a game of emotion. Obviously we had it and then gave it away really quick,” head coach Barry Odom said. “We've got enough competitors and we've got enough maturity on our team we've got to keep fighting and find a way to get it back.
“It's not ever going to go exactly how you scripted it.”
The script started to go wrong when Samuel returned the kickoff, his second return for a touchdown in two weeks. Odom said he expected Tucker McCann’s kick to reach the end zone, but it came up three yards short.
“The location of the ball was a little bit off,” Odom said. “But also we had a couple guys run past the football and you can’t do that in kickoff coverage. Run past the ball, now you’re short. Went back field return, got one block, kicked a guy out, the guy on the backside coverage. You know, really it’s not ever one guy. We had three or four didn’t get across the formation. It was poor.”
Momentum is a fickle mistress and any Missouri had disappeared at that point. And the Tigers did nothing to get it back. They dropped passes, they missed tackles, they committed costly penalties and they turned the ball over three times leading directly to 14 South Carolina points. In other words, everything teams need to do to win a game, Missouri did the opposite.
"Our margin of error is absolutely zero,” Odom said. “If we don't win the turnover margin and we play horrific in special teams we're not going to win a game."
“When adversity hits you, you got to swing back,” defensive tackle Terry Beckner said.
Missouri was virtually punchless for the final 43 minutes on Saturday. At the time, nobody on Missouri’s sideline expected those 30 seconds to decide the game. But in the end, that’s exactly what happened.
“I didn’t sense it,” defensive end Marcell Frazier said. “It was a big-time swing for them, but I thought we still had a little bit of momentum.”
“You never think it’s going to dictate the rest of the game,” cornerback Logan Cheadle said. “You just want to go back out there with the mindset that you’ve got to make a play and get the momentum back. It didn’t work out.”
DEFENSE SHOWS SOME IMPROVEMENT
Those looking for a bright spot might point to the Tiger defense. It wasn’t a steel curtain, but it was significantly better than a week ago. South Carolina had 359 yards and averaged 5.3 per play—both numbers below that of the Tigers’ own offense—despite holding the ball for 15 minutes longer than Mizzou.
“The outcome wasn’t where we wanted it to be, but we still fought and we had a way, way better week than we had last week,” Beckner said. “Come back Monday and make the adjustments.”
“We did better this week,” linebacker Kaleb Prewett said. “I knew we would just because we had some things that were fixable that we fixed. We showed that tonight. We still have room to improve.”
Mizzou allowed 24 points defensively, seven of those coming on a 25-yard drive following Lock’s first interception.
“There’s a little bit to build on,” defensive end Marcell Frazier said. “Tackling was much better.”
Part of it was the opponent, but Missouri’s rotations were severely cut down on Saturday. Cale Garrett and Terez Hall played virtually every snap at linebacker through the first three quarters. DeMarkus Acy and Logan Cheadle played every snap at cornerback.
“I thought we were playing pretty solid,” Odom said. “Thought we had some good things going there and wanted to keep those (players) out there.”
Whether it allowed the players to get in a rhythm and helped the defensive performance depends on who you talk to. Either way, it wasn’t enough on this night.
“I know for me anyway, if I’m out there, you start picking up their keys and picking up what they’re doing,” Prewett said. “I think we did that tonight and it worked out for us.”
“Doesn’t matter to me,” Cheadle said. “I’m comfortable with everybody we have in our secondary that’s able to play. We switch in and out in practice, we all gel together.”
CROCKETT'S NIGHT CUT SHORT
After 16 carries for 90 yards in the first half, Damarea Crockett carried only twice for seven yards in the second half. His final carry came at the Missouri 30-yard line with eight minute left in the third quarter.
“A bruised tailbone it sounded like,” Odom said. “Mine’s bruised too. It’s called an ass-kicking.”
Odom said the trainers told him Crockett should be ready to go for next week.
Yasir Durant injured an ankle, but Odom expected him to be able to play next week. Ronnell Perkins left the game briefly after a collision, but returned later on.
PURDUE GAME APPROACHES A MUST-WIN
Speaking of next week, it has turned into a virtual must-win for Missouri. And it seems to be quite a bit tougher than it did at the start of the season. Purdue pushed Louisville in week one before losing 35-28. Jeff Brohm’s Boilermakers rolled up 558 yards in a 44-21 rout of Ohio on Friday night.
“Every game from here on out, the challenge for us, it’s going to be a four quarter game. We’re not ever gonna be sitting around at halftime and eating hot dogs,” Odom said. “They got players on the other side that are going to be pretty good. Next week, Purdue’s damn good.”
The key next week? The thing is, there’s no magic wand to wave. Missouri has to play better. In every phase of the game.
“Score more points,” Prewett said. “Hold them to less.”
