Notebook: Mizzou wears down Kentucky, ends five-year losing streak
Safety Joshuah Bledsoe described the Kentucky football program as a “nagging mosquito.” Running back Larry Rountree III opted for a different insect, likening the Wildcats to a flea.
During their college careers, both seniors had seen Missouri presented plenty of opportunities to beat Kentucky, but the Wildcats always managed to dodge their swats and escape with the win. In the week leading up to this year’s matchup between the two SEC East opponents, the two players couldn’t get the noise about Missouri’s five-year losing streak out of their heads.
Finally, Saturday, the Tigers killed the proverbial pest. They did so via slow, steady strangulation.
Missouri held the ball for more than 43 minutes, compared to 16:50 for Kentucky. The Tigers ran 92 plays compared to the Wildcats’ 36 and out-gained them 421 to 145. The end result: a 20-10 victory that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.
“Both sides of the ball, they played the game exactly like we wanted it to be played in order to win, and that doesn’t happen very often against a really good football team,” head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “... I mean, I’m shocked at these stats. I’ve never been in a game like this. So it’s awesome.”
The drive that best epitomized Missouri’s performance didn’t even yield any points and ended in what Drinkwitz called a “coaching screw up.” After possessing the ball for the final three minutes of the first half and kicking a field goal as time expired, Missouri received the ball again to start the second. The Tigers held the ball for 9 minutes, 35 seconds. The 21-play odyssey featured three third-down conversions and two on fourth down.
The drive came to an unceremonious and seemingly deflating end when Drinkwitz opted to keep the offense on the field once again on a fourth down and one inside the Kentucky 10-yard line, rather than attempt a short field goal to extend the lead beyond one score. Quarterback Connor Bazelak kept the ball but got dragged down by defensive back Yusuf Corker for a loss of yardage.
Drinkwitz admitted after the game he should have sent the field goal unit onto the field. Still, Missouri’s players said that drive gave them confidence that Kentucky couldn’t stop their steady offensive attack.
“When we were on that drive, we were on the sidelines talking to everybody, like, we could just see it in their eyes and see it in their demeanor, like, they were tired, they just couldn’t play with us, they couldn’t keep up with us,” junior receiver Jalen Knox said. “So we made a message, like, keep on going, don’t stop.”
Drinkwitz came into the game knowing Missouri would have to move the ball gradually and on the ground, a contrast to its last game, when the Tigers threw for 406 yards and four touchdowns in an upset of LSU. Kentucky’s zone defense allows few opportunities to throw downfield, and often makes opponents pay for trying. The Wildcats entered Saturday having intercepted nine passes across the past two games.
In response, Drinkwitz told Bazelak to be "not get bored taking the checkdowns" and leaned heavily on the ground game. Missouri ran the ball a whopping 62 times, including a career-high 37 carries for Rountree. Drinkwitz said the team’s two offensive objectives were to avoid turning the ball over and eclipse 200 yards rushing. Mission accomplished on both fronts.
“We were definitely planning to run the ball and really pound the clock, because we felt like the way they played the last two games with playing coverage and trying to really rally to the ball late, they were forcing people to throw nine interceptions,” Drinkwitz explained. “And so felt like we needed to lean on Larry and our offensive line, and it worked out.”
Missouri didn’t break off many big runs — just five rushes gained more than 10 yards — but it consistently put itself in manageable late-down situations. That’s where Bazelak thrived. The redshirt freshman completed eight of nine passes on third downs.
“He has incredible poise,” Drinkwitz said of his signal-caller. “There’s several times where I thought the pocket broke down and he still kept his eyes downfield and found it.”
The defense deserves plenty of credit for the performance, as well. Just like he entered knowing Missouri would have to get the ground game going on offense, Drinkwitz knew his defense would have to contain Kentucky’s potent rushing attack. The Wildcats entered the game averaging more than 200 rushing yards per game and running the ball on 65 percent of snaps. Saturday, they gained just 98 yards on 23 carries.
Stopping the run forced Kentucky’s quarterback combination of Terry Wilson and Joey Gatewood into obvious passing situations, where they struggled. The duo combined to complete four of 13 passes for 43 yards, with more than half of that yardage coming on a single completion. In all, Kentucky’s 145 total yards were its fewest in a game since 2011, when it lost to South Carolina 54-3.
“You got no shot to win the game if you don’t stop the run against Kentucky,” Drinkwitz said. “That’s what they do, that’s what their identity is, that’s what their DNA is. … There’s really no other way around it other than to beat them at their own game.”
For a brief moment following Missouri’s turnover on downs, Missouri fans would have been forgiven for flashing back to 2018, when the Tigers dominated the first three quarters on the stat sheet but allowed Kentucky to score two late touchdowns in a 15-14 heartbreaker. But Missouri’s defense didn’t give the Wildcats a chance to regain any momentum. Taking the field for the first time in about an hour of real time, the unit stuffed a Wilson keeper on first down and forced an incompletion on second. Linebacker Nick Bolton laid a vicious hit on Wilson on third, forcing him out of bounds short of the sticks and forcing Kentucky to punt.
A gassed Wildcat defense took the field after just 90 seconds of rest. Missouri gashed Kentucky for a combined 45 yards on its first two plays, and this time finished off the drive with a touchdown and extending its cushion to 14 points.
“From a defensive perspective, you know them having to be on the field for eight minutes and getting a three and out and having to go right back on there, it’s mentally deflating” Bolton said. "And so our focus was trying to get a three and out, whether (the Missouri offense) scored or not. We ended up doing that, and fortunately, our offense, when they went back on the field, they went on I think a 60-something yard drive and scored a touchdown.”
After the game, offensive players said they benefited from Kentucky’s four three and outs, allowing them to wear down the Wildcats’ normally stout defense. The defense, meanwhile, said the offense’s sustained drives gave them fresh legs and confidence.
The end result: a first win over Kentucky for everyone in the Tiger program, players and coaches alike.
“This is one that we really, really wanted,” Bazelak said, “and we knew we were going to have to play our butts off, and we did, and we won.”
Rountree rises up record books
Not only did Rountree’s Herculean workload help Missouri control the clock Saturday, it propelled him higher on the school’s all-time rushing record boards. With his 126 yards against Kentucky, Rountree passed Brock Olivo to move into third on the school’s all-time rushing yardage list. His 3,144 yards now trails only Brad Smith and Zack Abron, and Rountree needs just 54 yards to overtake West as Missouri’s all-time leading running back. Plus, Rountree’s two touchdowns allowed him to pass Olivo, Devin West and Derek Washington to move into fifth all-time with 29 rushing touchdowns.
Rountree said he knew coming into Saturday’s game that he would be presented with plenty of opportunities to tote the ball, but not that he would carry 37 times. His previous career high for one game was 29. Teammates raved about his ability to consistently produce despite the heavy workload.
“It’s unbelievable,” Bazelak said. “Larry played his butt off, he ran his butt off. He’s really, him and the offensive line are really why this offense and this team won the game.”
“He’s a work horse, man,” said Bolton. “It’s a blessing to have him on our football team. … Him having 116 yards rushing and Kentucky having underneath 100 yards kind of tells the story of the game.”
Rountree downplayed the significance of his career marks. He also assured that he wasn’t feeling any ill effects from the 37 carries, saying he’ll be good to go when Missouri travels to Florida next week.
“I’m fine,” Rountree said. “I could play tomorrow.”
Offensive line comes through despite injuries
As Drinkwitz and several players pointed out after the game, Missouri would not have been able to control the clock so effectively without a big performance from the offensive line. The unit, which has been decimated by injuries and opt-outs and was thought to be a major question mark entering the season, not only paved the way for 220 yards on the ground, it did so with a true freshman playing much of the contest.
Left guard Xavier Delgado limped off the field in the second quarter and did not return. He was spotted on the sidelines with an ice pack around his right ankle. That forced Dylan Spencer into his first game action of the season. Then, in the second half, right tackle Larry Borom left the game. He didn’t return, either, and was replaced by rarely-used redshirt sophomore Javon Foster.
Both Delgado and Borom had played every snap this season prior to their departures. Yet the offensive line still functioned well with Spencer and Foster in their places.
“We’ve got multiple guys who even if they’re not in the starting five are ready to go in the game, and I think they did a great job tonight,” Right guard Case Cook said. “Dylan Spencer and Javon, they did a great job coming in and playing well. So there wasn’t any drop off when they came in and played, so very proud of them for that and proud of us as a unit.”
Drinkwitz said the offensive line never gets enough credit, so he made a point to praise both the players and position coach Marcus Johnson after the game.
“Hats off to Marcus Johnson,” he said. “I think he’s instilled his identity with those guys, and we had to play multiple people. Xavier Delgado got hurt early, Larry Borom got hurt late, Zeke Powell got hurt late. So, I mean, we were down to our top eight offensive linemen, and still able to rush the football.”