For the last two weeks, the word uttered by everyone in the Missouri program has been finish. They’re using the wrong word. Missouri doesn’t have a finishing problem. It has a starting problem.
Don’t get me wrong: The ends of the last three games have been troubling. You know about the two plays that snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at Auburn. Last weekend, No. 1 Georgia scored the final 14 points of the game to beat the Tigers 26-22. And on Saturday the Tigers were outscored 14-7 by a pedestrian—at best—Florida offense in a 24-17 loss.
But it never should have come down to that.
Auburn outscored Missouri 14-0 in the first quarter and then did not put up another point until a second-chance overtime field goal that ultimately won the game. Missouri had four scoring drives against Georgia, but three of the ended in Harrison Mevis field goals, including one on which the Tigers had first-and-goal inside the Bulldogs’ one-yard line. That’s 12-points left on the field in a game they lost by four. And we haven’t even touched on the 21-0 hole Missouri dug itself in the first prove-it game of the year at Kansas State.
On Saturday against Florida, the Tigers once again failed to realize the game had begun until the second quarter. A 53-yard punt return and a pick six spotted the Gators a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and left Missouri fighting back for the remainder of the opening half.
Here were the halftime stats:
Total yards: Missouri 196, Florida 65
Passing yards: Missouri 97, Florida 46
Completions: Missouri 14, Florida 4
First Downs: Missouri 11, Florida 3
Total Plays: Missouri 40, Florida 19
Time of Possession: Missouri 20:49, Florida 9:11
And the game was tied.
In the second half, Florida ran for 212 yards against a Missouri defense that did its best, played well enough to win, but just ran out of gas a little bit in the second half. The offense did drive for one touchdown, drawing within 24-17 with 5:58 to play. Missouri got the ball back on a Daylan Carnell interception resulting from a tip by Jaylon Carlies. Given one last chance at a game-tying (or game-winning, if Eli Drinkwitz wanted to let it hang out and go for two to beat the Gators for a second season in a row), Mizzou moved to midfield. On fourth and two, Brady Cook threw too high for Tauskie Dove and the comeback bid was over. Three Anthony Richardson kneeldowns later, the Tigers were headed back home with a third consecutive loss to start SEC play. The total margin of defeat has been 14 points.
Saturday was just the latest in a troubling trend for the Tigers. They have played 12 road games under Drinkwitz. They have been outscored 98-51 in the first quarter of those games. That includes contests against Vanderbilt and Boston College in 2021 in which Missouri outscored the Commodores and Eagles 24-14. Take away those and the margin is 84-27 against the Tigers in ten games. They’re basically spotting the opposition a four to seven point lead in the first 15 minutes of every single road game.
Under Drinkwitz, Missouri has consistently come out and positioned itself directly behind the eight ball on the road. Missouri has led only one game on the road at halftime under Drinkwitz. They are 2-10 in true road games and 2-11 away from Faurot Field when you throw in last year’s Armed Forces Bowl loss to Army.
Drinkwitz deserves credit for getting his team up off the mat over and over in the last three years. Not just week to week, but within games. After the three disastrous starts on the road this season, the Tigers have come back to tie two of the three games. Despite leaving plenty of opportunity out there early against Georgia, the Tigers led the top-ranked team in the country for nearly 56 minutes. But they’ve lost all four of those games and the reason is simple: They’ve been thoroughly outplayed in the first 15 minutes of the game three times and squandered multiple chances to give themselves substantial breathing room in the fourth. Maybe Missouri wouldn't have to keep getting off the mat if it didn't keep getting knocked to it to begin with.
Close isn’t good enough. Not anymore. Not in year three. The margin between winning and losing is razor-thin at this level. Good teams make those plays (at least some of them), go bowling and celebrate good seasons. Bad teams talk about how close they were to winning. This team is good enough to go bowling. It’s just not good enough to do it playing less than four quarters every week.
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