The 19th ranked Tigers came into the game versus 24th ranked Mississippi State with a whole lot on the line. A 4-0 start, an opportunity to snag a ranked road win for the first time since the pre-Drinkwitz era, and a potential Gameday visit versus a skyrocketing Florida team next week. Long story short, the Tigers came up short against a ranked team once again, falling 31-24 to the Bulldogs. Let’s get to the five takeaways.
1. Sloppy play, conservative playcalling sinks the ship
The Tigers came out sloppy once again, racking up eight penalties for 91 yards. Those penalties included two holding penalties in the redzone, a killer hold on a drive in the fourth quarter basically ending a drive which immediately led to the first of two MSU touchdowns to take the lead, and yet another hold on the final drive prior to the Hail Mary attempt.
Beyond the penalties, ultra conservative play calls all evening, specifically on second down and long, doomed many early Tiger drives and an vital late drive. By my count, Chip Lindsey called seven running plays on 2nd and 8 or longer in the first half. One was called back on a penalty and only one resulted in a “successful” play, meaning the play picked up at least half the yards to gain a first down. As the passing offense opened up in the second half, there was only one such call after halftime, which also was unsuccessful. That’s eight runs on second and long, one hold and only one a successful play. That set the offense up for 3rd and longs all night, making it difficult to get the offense moving early.
2. Another slow start for Mizzou
For the third straight game, the Tigers fell behind early in the game. This time, it was the largest early deficit they have faced this season, going down 14-0 in the first quarter thanks to a beautiful deep pass from Kamario Taylor to Sanfrisco Magee. Santana Banner was in single coverage on one of MSU’s fastest receivers in an ill-conceived defensive call leading to the 43-yard touchdown. The Tigers followed that up by driving much of the field before kicking (and missing) a 52-yard field goal. MSU was right back at it with another long drive and touchdown, leaving the Tigers with a hefty deficit early in the game, which ultimately proved too much to overcome.
3. The D-Line Zou lives on in Daeden Hopkins
After Darris Smith was announced as officially out for this game with a lower body injury on Friday, the Mizzou defense was left pretty thin on pass rushers. Second-year Hermann native Daeden Hopkins has had moments early in his career and early this season, but pressure was put squarely on his shoulders with starter Darris Smith sidelined. The need for Hopkins to step up became bigger when the Tigers’ other starter, Langdon Kitchen, went out with a leg injury himself in the first quarter.
But step up Hopkins did, tallying two sacks in the first half, including a massive end-of-half play to keep MSU off the scoreboard as the clock ran out. He followed it up with another sack in the third quarter and a big fourth sack in the fourth quarter when MSU was driving. Unfortunately not enough of his teammates stepped up to help.
4. Defense played well until they wore out
After a slow start (like the rest of the team) the defense really adjusted well and played excellently throughout the middle of the game. After falling down 14-0, the defense bowed up thanks to four sacks from Hopkins and improved coverage on the back end. The Tigers shut out the Bulldogs throughout the second and third quarters, but the MSU high-tempo offense and Fluff Bothwell’s 230-pound frame hammering tacklers all game eventually wore the middle of the Tiger defense out. MSU scored two straight touchdowns on long drives with a Mizzou three-and-out splitting them as the secondary finally broke back open late.
5. Austin Simmons to Cayden Lee feeds families
If there’s one thing we’ve learned about the new look Tiger offense four games into the year, it’s that Austin Simmons has an incredible connection with Cayden Lee. That showed itself again on national TV against the Bulldogs as Simmons hooked up with Lee 10 times for 148 yards and two touchdowns. When Olugbode was largely shut down all night by future NFLer cornerback Kelley Jones, Lee shined out of the slot. Unfortunately at the end of the game, Simmons seemed to key in on only Lee, resulting in several near-interceptions in key situations.
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