COLUMBIA, MO 一 Missouri defeated Middle Tennessee State 23-19 on Saturday to move to 2-0 on the season, but you could’ve sworn the Tigers lost by the looks on some of the faces of Tigers fans as they exited Faurot Field.

The same jubilee and buzz that usually accompanies the crowd as they head for the exits wasn’t there. Instead, you heard people leaving the stadium saying things like, ‘What was that?’

For the second week in a row, the Tigers' offense left a lot to be desired. It started off slow with three punts in the first four drives and then it finished even slower with a punt, safety and a questionable MTSU pass interference call that gave them a new set of downs on third and 21 to essentially bail them out.

"You know, we (the defense) played really good in the first quarter and gave the offense plenty of chances to really try to start fast and we were only up three nothing,” Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “That was really disappointing.

“Obviously, we got beat on a protection issue right there (on the safety). We made the first guy miss and then Brady (Cook) got pressured was trying to make a throw. Obviously, can't do that. Got to be much better in protection.”

It was an up-and-down night for Cook, who played every offensive snap despite Drinkwitz saying earlier in the week Sam Horn would get a series.

He finished the game 14-of-19 for 204 yards two touchdowns. He also added a rushing touchdown, and despite how good his stats appear on paper there was a lot of meat on the bone left out there.

He had a couple of deep balls he underthrew. On a 44-yard deep ball completion to Luther Burden III, that ball was underthrown. Up 16-10 in the third quarter, he almost threw an interception that almost certainly would have been returned for a touchdown.

Then, he had the aforementioned safety on second and eight at Missouri’s own 16-yard line when MTSU forced him to scramble right, and instead of throwing the ball away he took the sack and the ball trickled into the end zone and out of bounds to narrow Missouri’s lead to four.

“I got pushed out and I was trying to throw it away and I just didn't throw it away soon enough. I was trying to put it in the cylinder where Cody Schrader was at,” Cook said. “I wasn’t sure I was out of the tackle box and the other guy made a good play and he got his hands on me too soon. I wish I threw it away sooner.”

Again, it was a tough night for Cook, but his night wasn’t nearly as bad in Drinkwitz’s eyes as the offensive line’s.

The Tigers' offensive line showed some promise last week versus South Dakota which was highlighted by center Connor Tollison and left tackle Javon Foster being in PFF College’s top five offensive linemen for Week 1.

Some of that promise dissipated a little bit versus MTSU’s aggressive blitzing defense.

The stats show the offensive line allowed four sacks, seven tackles for loss and committed three penalties.

But plays like that safety, where Cam’Ron Johnson gets blown up almost immediately at the snap which forces Cook to leave the pocket, has Drinkwitz considering making some personnel changes heading into Week 3 versus Kansas State.

“I would say there's a good probability there's gonna be some personnel changes. We're not going to stick with the status quo,” Drinkwitz said. “We've had two games to figure it out and production is still not what it needs to be. We're going to compete for the job, but we're not going to continue to give up four sacks and run the same five guys out there.”

MTSU would send five or six players on a blitz frequently and Drinkwitz knew that’s what it liked to do, but the way the offensive line struggled was not something he could’ve anticipated.

“I didn't anticipate that going into the game. I knew they were a big pressure team. It didn't feel like we were going to struggle as bad as we did with it,” Drinkwitz said. “So I go back to the drawing board to get that corrected.”

Well, the previous section was the bad. The good is Burden is pretty much everything the Tigers need him to be and more.

After racking up seven receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown in Week 1, the sophomore wideout got his first 100-yard receiving game in Week 2 by racking up eight catches for 117 yards.

"(I'm) proud of Luther," Drinkwitz said. "He was really hard to tackle. I thought he really good at punt returns. I thought he did a nice job."

Two of the Tigers' biggest plays of the night came when Burden was on the receiving end. First, was a 19-yard gain on a third and 11 in the second quarter, and the aforementioned 44-yard pass happened in the third. Both plays came on consecutive Mizzou possessions that led to touchdowns.

Running back Nathaniel Peat, who had eight rushes for 51 yards and a 49-yard touchdown reception said those plays had him eager to make one of his own.

"I'd definitely say it's a little boost of confidence. Seeing Luther make plays is definitely exciting, but my competitive nature is like, 'Oh, he made that play? I want to make a play too.' So, I love seeing Luther have the ball in his hands because he always makes something special out of something. Whatever it is, definitely gives us a boost of confidence."

Drinkwitz said Peat didn't get enough carries on Saturday and that the offense will "get that corrected" for the future.

Burden and Peat weren't the only offensive players making plays. Oklahoma transfer wide receiver Theo Wease made a couple of plays in his second game as a Tiger.

He finished with one reception for five yards and a touchdown as a Tiger. He also had a 33-yard reception that almost sealed the game, but Burden had an offensive pass interference called on him to nullify the play.

Nonetheless, he's a guy that Drinkwitz wants to be featured more in the offense.

"I'm not disappointed that we've clearly identified some guys that are playmakers for us. I thought Theo Wease's catch was unbelievable on the goal line," Drinkwitz said. "I thought his catch and run opportunity on fourth down where we checked 一 and I thought he really played big and we've got to get him more opportunities to play big for us."

Schrader, who didn't have the greatest night with 23 rushes for 84 yards, did break the 4,000 rushing yards plateau. He's third in the NCAA among active players in career rushing yards.

When eight defensive starters decided to come back to the Tigers for the 2023 season, there was a good assumption that the defense would be pretty good. But this defense may be better than last season's 34th-ranked FBS defense.

First, the defense lost a lot of EDGE depth with Isaiah McGuire and DJ Coleman going to the NFL, Trajan Jeffcoat transferring to Arkansas and Arden Walker transferring to Colorado.

The talk of the offseason was if that position would be a weak point and it may actually be one of the team's strengths 一 again.

Johnny Walker had six tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack in Week 1. In Week 2, he backed that performance up with three tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss.

Darius Robinson, who made the transition to defensive end from defensive tackle over the offseason, racked up a career-high seven tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

"Well, I think I got a lot of improvement I still need to make and it's just about taking the coaching and just letting it translate to the game speed," Robinson said. "I think from last week, I just took a step. Like I said, last week, I don't think I played badly at all. I think I played good. I made the plays I was supposed to make, and this week I made even more plays. But I'm just trying to do my role and be a part of this defense."

Jackson State EDGE transfer Nyles Gaddy may have had the best performance of any defensive lineman with his three tackles and two-sack performance.

Another reason why this defense can eclipse the 2022 team is because the depth is much better. Last season, when players like McGuire or Coleman weren't on the field you could tell the difference.

This season, with all the depth at various positions, there's always a playmaker on the field. Linebacker Chuck Hicks got the start at linebacker tonight even though Chad Bailey was active, and he did very well by recording five tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

"Chuck played very well," Robinson said. "He's stepped up in the role that was asked of him earlier in the week and he showed up and played the game and did all the details right. And he's a great teammate. I'm glad he was out there with us tonight."

Safety Daylan Carnell was all over the field on Saturday and paced the team with eight tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and a pass deflection.

Overall, the Tigers recorded four sacks, 12 tackles for loss by 11 different players, five pass deflections and five quarterback hits, and 15 defenders had two or more tackles on Saturday. So, the production can come from anyone or anywhere on this defense.

However, there are a couple of struggles this defense has to tackle if it wants to be the best in school history as they proclaimed in the offseason.

It starts with getting off of the field on third and fourth down.

MTSU was 9-of-18 on third down and 2-of-3 on fourth down. South Dakota was also 2-of-3 on fourth down.

"Nah, we definitely got to get better. You know, you said it, we've got to get off the field and get stops but it's going to start in practice," Robinson said. "Just emphasizing second down, third and short, and we've got to get them behind the sticks more. But we definitely have a lot of room for improvement."

Middle Tennessee's first touchdown was on a third and three while its second touchdown was on a fourth and 13 with a little less than seven minutes to go.

There's a lot to be excited about for this defense, it just has to nail down the details.

Last season, it seemed like the kicking struggles for Harrison Mevis and the field goal unit were a fluke, but then last week, Mevis went 0-for-2 on field goals.

Drinkwitz more or less said in the postgame presser a lot of the problems were on the holder and short snapper and decided to replace Brett Le Blanc at the latter position with Trey Flint.

Well, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

On Saturday, the kicking troubles continued. Mevis connected on a 39-yard field goal for the first points of the game, but he missed an extra point that would've put the Tigers up 17-10 in the third quarter.

The missed PAT was the first in his career. Prior to the game, he had been 107-of-107 on PATs.

"I'm really concerned," Drinkwitz said. "That's devastating to have a poor hold and in a leakage up the middle (of the field goal unit), and that's uncharacteristic, especially for as much as we practice it. And again, it's got to get fixed."

On the season, Mevis is 1-of-3 on field goals and 7-of-8 on PATs.

PowerMizzou.com is a proud game day partner of Yuengling Traditional Lager the taste of game-time @yuenlingbeer #LagerUp.

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