Every week through the end of Missouri's football season, PowerMizzou.com will hand out a position-by-position report card from the Tigers' most recent game.
Here are the grades for No. 9 Missouri's 38-0 win over Buffalo.
Quarterbacks: Brady Cook had another solid game in Week 2 that was arguably better than his Week 1 performance despite throwing an interception. Cook completed 28-of-36 passes for 228 yards and an interception. He also had five carries for 62 yards and two touchdowns. Cook got active in the run game and was closer to the player we saw last year who gashed teams with his running ability when he wasn't picking the team apart in the passing game.
An interception is never okay, but the Tigers were up 24-0 trying to convert a fourth and six on the first possession of the second half. Cook was rolling out right, getting pressured and trying to make a play. Considering the lead, the fact that anything less than a first down would've been a turnover anyway and that the Bulls did nothing with the takeaway, makes the turnover benign. However, there were some missed throws that Cook probably would like back.
Drew Pyne continues to impress off the bench. He completed all six passes for 35 yards and led a fourth-quarter touchdown drive. GRADE: B
Running backs: Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll continue to prove why this running back room will be more than okay sans Cody Schrader. Noel had 12 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown. He also had a key block on Cook's 31-yard rushing touchdown before halftime. Carroll also got 12 carries and turned that into 62 yards. Jamal Roberts got a touchdown for the second straight week. He finished the game with two carries for 10 yards and a touchdown. Kewan Lacy entered the game in the fourth quarter and had six carries for 27 yards. However, for the second week in a row, Lacy fumbled. Last week, Mizzou recovered. This week, he fumbled out of bounds. GRADE: A
Wide receivers: Theo Wease had a career day with 13 receptions on 14 targets for 149 yards. For reference, Buffalo as a team had 169 total yards. He was gashing the Bulls' defense that opted for the Tigers to beat them underneath rather than over the top. The 13 receptions are tied for sixth-most in a single game in school history.
Luther Burden had three receptions for 15 yards and two carries for 21 yards in a quarter and a half of action. He left the game late in the second quarter due to an illness that head coach Eli Drinkwitz said he's been dealing with all week.
Joshua Manning had two receptions for 28 yards.
Marquis "Speedy" Johnson had five receptions for 52 yards.
Mookie Cooper had three receptions on four targets for eight yards and Daniel Blood had one reception for a yard. GRADE: A
Tight end: Tyler Stephens got the start versus his former team in place of Brett Norfleet, who missed the game due to injury.
Stephens split the reps with Jordon Harris and both of them performed well in the blocking game and helped spring Mizzou loose for 255 rushing yards.
Stephens had one reception for five yards and Harris had his first career reception for nine yards. However, both players committed holding penalties. It was an unremarkable game by both tight ends, but they were adequate on Saturday. GRADE: B
Offensive line: Mitchell Walters got his first start since 2022 in place of Cam'Ron Johnson at right guard. Johnson got hurt at practice earlier this week and was dressed to play in an emergency.
Outside of a face mask penalty, Walters held up well.
Connor Tollison was flagged for a false start. Meanwhile, Cayden Green was called for a hold and Armand Membou was flagged for two holds.
The offensive line played well for the most part. It didn't allow a quarterback hit or a sack. It did allow five tackles for loss and made up five of the team's 11 penalties. GRADE: B
Disclaimer: Everyone gets credit for forcing a second straight shutout and extending the opponent's scoreless streak to 11 quarters.
Defensive line: Chris McClellan had four tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks.
Zion Young had four tackles and a quarterback hit.
Jahkai Lang had three tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack.
Johnny Walker had two tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack.
Marquis Gracial had two tackles.
Eddie Kelly was playing with a heavy heart as he recorded two tackles just three days after the unexpected passing of his mother.
Joe Moore had three quarterback hits and one pass deflection. This was one of the better games of his Mizzou career.
This unit helped limit Buffalo to 114 yards on 32 carries (3.6 yards per carry). GRADE: A
Linebackers: Corey Flagg led the team in tackles (six) for the second straight game and also had a tackle for loss.
Chuck Hicks and Brayshawn Littlejohn each had three tackles.
Triston Newson had two tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks and a pass deflection.
Nic Rodriguez and Jeremiah Beasley each had a tackle. GRADE: A
Secondary: Marvin Burks had three tackles and an interception.
Joe Charleston had four tackles and a tackle for loss.
Sidney Williams had four tackles.
Cameron Keys had a pair of tackles.
Daylan Carnell, Drey Norwood, Marcus Clarke, Nic DeLoach and Tre'Vez Johnson each had one tackle.
This group helped limit Buffalo to 55 passing yards and 1-of-12 on third downs. GRADE: A
Special teams: Kicker Blake Craig got off to a good start with a 51-yard field goal on the opening possession, but he missed his next two field goals from 49 and 52 yards away. The misses had no impact on the game, and for a player in his second game it was good that he showed he could nail at least one of them, but that type of performance won't cut it in the future. Craig has the kicking power down but it's about accuracy. He will get a chance to have a better outing versus Boston College in Week 3.
Punter Luke Bauer had a pair of punts for an average of 43.5 yards per punt. Both landed inside the 20-yard line and one landed inside the five-yard line. GRADE: C
Coaching: The offense put up 518 yards and scored 38 points. It was almost a perfect split in yardage with the team gaining 263 yards through the air and 255 yards on the ground. Mizzou was also 9-of-15 on third down and was 4-of-4 in the red zone with four touchdowns. Offensive coordinator Kirby Moore did his job.
Defensive coordinator Corey Batoon continues to be near flawless as his defense isn't letting anything get behind them. The last time the defense has had a shutout in two straight games, Franklin D. Roosevelt was two years into his 12-year (1933-45) stint as president. He's doing his job and more.
The real reason this isn't an A is because the team had 11 penalties and zero of them were committed by the defense, which is also another testament to Batoon.
Last week, Mizzou committed nine penalties. The team has to be more disciplined as the competition gets better. GRADE: A-
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