COLUMBIA, Mo. 一 It took four game minutes and 10 real-life minutes for No. 11 Missouri to figure out the mysterious Murray State.

The Racers had the entire offseason to plan for Missouri with the element of surprise. It has a new head coach, two new offensive coordinators, a new defensive coordinator and over 60 new players.

The Tigers were piecing together film of the Racers' new additions to create a game plan. They were even on Hudl trying to find game film on the Racers' starting quarterback, Jayden Johannsen, who last played at South Dakota School of the Mines.

Well, in the time it takes to take a shower, unload a dishwasher or fold some laundry, Mizzou figured out everything Murray State wanted to do in all three phases of the game on Thursday night in its 51-0 season-opening win at Faurot Field.

"It took us four plays," Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. "No, I mean, they had some stuff. They started with some unbalanced formations. But again, that's just the hats off to Corey (Batoon) and his staff for having our guys that prepared, and really just answering the bell. We kind of figured that there wasn't going to be a ton of drop-back passes. So, we were kind of expecting some of the screen and inside zone and some sweep stuff."

The Racers (0-1) started the game with a surprise onside kick that Missouri (1-0) recovered. That was the Racers' first attempt at surprising the Tigers.

Missouri quarterback Brady Cook took advantage of the short field and led the team on a six-play, 42-yard touchdown drive that lasted two minutes and 15 seconds.

That was Murray State's second chance to surprise the Tigers. It could've done something the Tigers

When the Racers had their first offensive possession they turned the ball over on downs after they were stopped on fourth and inches. That was their last chance to surprise the Tigers. From then on, the rout was on.

Missouri made a little bit of history in the first quarter, too. It took the Tigers five minutes and 19 seconds to score 21 points. That beat the record of, seven minutes and 25 seconds versus Southeast Louisiana in 2012. The 28 first-quarter points were the most Mizzou scored in the first quarter of the season opener.

In between the Tigers' second and third touchdowns only eight seconds elapsed. That's the third-fastest time to score 14 points in team history.

Missouri had three running backs score a rushing touchdown on Thursday. In 2023, only two running backs did that (Cody Schrader and Nate Peat). Mizzou had four players who scored a rushing touchdown (Cook, Nate Noel, Carroll and Jamal Roberts) Thursday. In 2023, only three players (Cook, Schrader and Peat) did that.

"Oh yeah, it's great (having multiple running backs play) because everybody has their own role," Noel said. "Everybody knows what they need to do, and whenever somebody new goes in, the speed doesn't change. We're just going to keep coming at you with a new fresh back."

The team also had eight players record multiple receptions. That's not a record per se, but just another example of the ball being in the hands of multiple playmakers and the Tigers having their way with Murray State.

"I thought they (the offense) just came out after the onside kick and executed," Drinkwitz said. "We left a few plays out there that we're going to be coming back in (and) working on but I thought we protected the quarterback really well tonight. I don't think he had any protection issues, and we were fairly efficient. I know in the first half we were 5-of-7 on third down. So, overall a pretty good night."

Going into fall camp Missouri wanted to improve its red zone offense, which ranked third in the FBS last year. However, the problem was the Tigers settled for field goals on 35% of those conversions. Drinkwitz wanted to turn more field goals into touchdowns and the Tigers did that by going 7-of-7 in the red zone with four touchdowns with the first-team offense going 4-of-4 with three touchdowns.

Anything the Tigers wanted to do offensively, they did for the most part.

"I'll have to go back and watch the tape. I was really glad that we finished off the half with the touchdown," Drinkwitz said. "I just kind of challenged those guys. We weren't going to kick the field goal there. So was pleased with their execution on that drive. You know, we'll have to go back and see. I can't recall any issues that I was concerned about."

The offense did almost anything it wanted to but the defense didn't leave room for doubt. It manhandled the Racers' offense from the beginning.

Even with six new starters on defense and a new defensive coordinator, the Tigers' defense picked up where last year's unit left off. It has been 125 (game) minutes and 48 seconds since the Mizzou defense allowed a touchdown dating back to the team's 14-3 Cotton Bowl win over Ohio State.

Corey Batoon's debut as Mizzou's defensive coordinator realistically couldn't have gone better than it did in Week 1. For the first time since 2019, Mizzou shut out an opponent, and it had that shutout with the third-string players in to close the game. Ten freshman defenders played the last drive and gave up only 14 yards.

"Corey Batoon can't say how good of a job he did tonight," Drinkwitz said. "At halftime, I really challenged our players when we were going to sub people out to play to a standard and not get complacent, and (I) was really proud of those guys. (We) got a lot of different people in the game. (On) that last drive, other than Phillip Roche, was all freshmen on the field, and man, that is going to be one heck of a defense in the future. (I'm) really proud of those guys and thought they came in and played to a standard."

The defense allowed 85 yards for the game, limiting the Racers to just 1.7 yards per play.

Murray State had just five first downs and was held to 4-of-15 on third downs. The Racers had more punts (eight) than first downs.

Mizzou also turned two turnovers into 14 points.

Linebacker Corey Flagg, who is in his first season at Mizzou, said he's never been a part of a game where the defense did so well the freshmen could come in and still preserve the shutout.

"Honestly, that's the first time I've been a part of a defense where the freshmen go out and those guys were so dialed in and locked in," Flagg said. ... "I just can't be more proud of those guys. Brian Huff, Brayshawn Littlejohn, Jeremiah Beasley and Nic Rodriguez 一 just the linebackers and my brother (safety Caleb Flagg), he did well, too. Those guys are just so locked in and they played fast and physical."

It could easily be argued that the defense was better than the offense on Thursday because it didn't have any mishaps like the offense. Burden fumbled a jet sweep early in the second quarter and Cook had four deep passes that he overthrew for what would've been touchdowns.

The best field position Murray State got the entire game was when it started its fifth drive on its 40-yard line following Burden's fumble. The Racers finished that drive on its 41-yard line.

Murray State had one play on Missouri's side of the field. The furthest it got was to Mizzou's 47-yard line and it took them until the 9:24 mark in the fourth quarter against Missouri's third-string defense to get across midfield.

Here's how the Racers' possessions ended:

Turnover on downs

Interception

Punt

Punt

Punt

Punt

Punt

HALF

Punt

Fumble

Punt

Punt

End of game

It was whistle-to-whistle domination and a good first impression for Batoon and the Tigers' new-look defense.

If there was any worry about replacing some of the NFLers who departed the team last season, the Tigers' transfer class did a good job of quelling any doubt.

Last year, running back Cody Schrader was a one-man wrecking crew for the Tigers, finishing the year with a school record 1,627 rushing yards.

Mizzou got Nate Noel, who ran for 834 yards and five touchdowns, and Marcus Carroll, who ran for 1,350 yards and 13 touchdowns at Georgia State in 2023, out of the transfer portal this offseason to replace Schrader and the rushing game didn't miss a beat.

Both had decent games with Noel, who got the start, recording 11 carries for 44 yards and a touchdown. He also had four receptions for 20 yards. Carroll had six carries for 35 yards and a touchdown. He also added two receptions for 19 yards.

Drinkwitz thinks the pair played how he expected them to play.

"Exactly what I expected with Marcus Carroll, he's going to be really tough to tackle when he gets his pads downhill," Drinwkitz said. "It's going to be a tough out, and you're going to have to bring a sack lunch to keep hitting. I thought Nate Noel had some really good cuts. He's got some quickness. I think there's one (play) that his feet got caught up that we're going to wish we had back. But for the most part, I thought those guys played well off of each other."

One of the few blemishes on the night for the Tigers were penalties. The Tigers had nine of them for 56 yards with seven of them being accepted. Oklahoma transfer left guard Cayden Green had two holding penalties and the offensive line as a unit had six but Drinkwitz wasn't worried about Green or anyone else on the line.

"I thought we were able to run the ball. We just missed a couple of shot plays that we're going to have to connect on moving in the future," Drinkwitz said. "But overall, I thought those guys played pretty well. We'll have to watch the tape. We had a couple of penalties there, but yeah, for the most part, I thought they did what we expected them to do."

Mizzou's takeaways came from a pair of transfers.

First, former Clemson cornerback Toriano Pride got the festivities started early with an interception returned 25 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter to give Mizzou a two-score lead.

Corey Flagg said that play set the tone for the defense for the rest of the game.

"TP set the tone with that," Corey said. "TP did that 一 like we knew somebody was going to get a takeaway, but a pick-six? I mean, that's classic. Everyone's reaction was just priceless."

Midway through the third quarter former Florida defensive tackle Chris McClellan forced a strip-sack at Murray State's 10-yard line, which later led to Roberts scoring his first career touchdown.

"Honestly, I saw a breakdown in protection," McClellan said. "I saw the center slide, like it was some miscommunication between the guard and the center right there. So, I saw the space and I took it."

McClellan finished with three tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, a forced fumble and a pass deflection.

It's hard to replace seven NFL players and the Tigers transfer class has a lot more work versus stiffer competition to prove they can match or exceed what the team did last year but they're off to a great start.

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