Sunday Grade Card: Purdue

GET THE INSIDE SCOOP EVERY DAY WITH YOUR PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION!

QUARTERBACK: Drew Lock was incredible for two-and-a-half quarters. The offense sputtered for a bit and Lock threw a bad interception in the red zone, but when Missouri had to have him, the quarterback came up big. The main criticism of Lock has always been that he didn't come through in crunch time or that he wasn't the primary reason Missouri won games. He did and he was on Saturday night. It wasn't a perfect performance, but Lock threw for 375 yards and three touchdowns even with his No. 1 receiver on the sideline most of the night. FINAL GRADE: A-

RUNNING BACK: The Tigers finally got the ground game going on Saturday. They ran for 233 yards and averaged 5.1 yards per carry. Larry Rountree III busted a 52-yard run and the Tigers had a few long gainers on the ground. The biggest pleasant surprise was the play of Tyler Badie, who ran for 61 yards on 12 carries (plus a huge catch for 20 yards) and was the primary back on the game-winning drive despite being just three games into his college career. The top two were good enough that they relegated Damarea Crockett to the role of spectator for the entire second half. FINAL GRADE: A

WIDE RECEIVERS: Even with one big drop and an injury that sidelined him much of the night, Emanuel Hall had four grabs for 88 yards, including a key 25-yarder on the final drive. Jalen Knox went over 100 yards and caught the first touchdown of his young career. Nate Brown was reliable, chipping in five grabs for 48 yards and Johnathon Johnson had another touchdown catch. FINAL GRADE: A

TIGHT ENDS: If the running game is going well, the tight ends have something to do with it, so they deserve credit there. Albert Okwuegbunam and Kendall Blanton made seven catches for 52 yards including a pretty touchdown grab by Albert O in the corner of the end zone when Mizzou's offense was humming. Not a spectacular night, but certainly good enough. FINAL GRADE: A-

OFFENSIVE LINE: Again, the running game was better and for a third straight week Lock was rarely pressured. The Tigers did give up their first sack of the season, but Lock had ridiculous amounts of time in the pocket. There was only one penalty on the line that we can recall. Hyrin White filled in nicely for Yasir Durant when the starting left tackle went out with an injury. All in all, the line's best effort so far. FINAL GRADE: A

DEFENSIVE LINE: As much time as Lock had, David Blough had a similar amount. Missouri had one sack, but with 55 passing plays, that's not much. Terry Beckner Jr. made a couple of plays. Barry Odom said afterward he thought the front four played well against the run because Purdue ran for only 42 yards, but that had much more to do with the Boilermakers trying than the Tigers doing anything to keep them from having success. It's debatable which area of the defense is the biggest concern, but this is in the conversation. FINAL GRADE: D-

LINEBACKERS: Cale Garrett had two tackles for a loss and made a big play to stop Rondale Moore and force a Purdue field goal. But that was about it. There were wide open receivers running all over the field and the linebackers shared blame in that. Purdue's tight ends had eight catches for 172 yards. Not good. FINAL GRADE: D-

SECONDARY: Adam Sparks led all Missouri tacklers with 11. That kind of says it all. You may have heard, David Blough threw for 572 yards. That ought to cover it. FINAL GRADE: F

SPECIAL TEAMS: Tucker McCann made four of his five field goals including a game-winner. Corey Fatony only punted twice and averaged 56 yards. On the downside, the Tigers got a field goal blocked and Johnathon Johnson had a couple of questionable fair catch decisions. FINAL GRADE: B

COACHING: Missouri won. They did so when a lot of things went against them and when the tents could often have been folded up. This team didn't quit and it found a way to win. The Tigers deserve credit for that and so do the coaches. Defensively, Ryan Walters will be public enemy No. 1 this week and he certainly deserves some heat. But he can only use the players he's got. And when he's using everyone and they're all getting lit up for 572 passing yards, eventually you run out of options. Sometimes guys have to make plays too and Missouri's defense didn't make many. Some of the when to go or when not to go on fourth down decisions were curious, but in the end, more of them worked out than didn't. FINAL GRADE: B

OVERALL: Wins shouldn't be dismissed. But they shouldn't automatically get high marks either. For every positive, there was a negative (they were pretty much all on defense). It was a win, but if Missouri plays like that for its next three games, it's going to be 3-3 in a hurry. FINAL GRADE: B-