Missouri football opened its season against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, and the Tigers found success on both sides of the ball. However, there were small errors, as sophomore quarterback Brady Cook failed to throw several passes longer than 20 yards, and the defense allowed the Bulldogs to complete two passes over 50 yards.

Without these small issues, the Tigers might have found better success, but Missouri still has plenty to celebrate.

The Bulldogs had possession throughout most of the first quarter, the first test for the Missouri defense. The Tigers responded with two interceptions, but the first was negated due to a defensive pass interference call. Junior defensive back Jaylon Carlies caught a tipped pass, giving Missouri its first turnover. A series of bulldog rushes from redshirt senior running back Greg Garner and short passes caught by redshirt junior wide receiver Smoke Harris followed a lackluster Missouri drive, pushing Tech towards its end zone. After reaching the 33-yard line and being forced into a fourth down, redshirt sophomore kicker Jacob Barnes made a field goal, giving the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.

After a rough start, Missouri took off and did not look back. Following the Tech field goal, Missouri senior running back Cody Schrader rushed the ball 17 yards and Cook added a 10-yard run, pushing the Tigers to the five-yard line to end the first quarter.

Schrader began the second quarter with a rushing touchdown, giving Missouri its first points. Missouri took the lead, 7-3. Shortly after, junior defensive back Joseph Charleston intercepted a pass by redshirt junior quarterback Matthew Downing and brought it back 29 yards for another Missouri touchdown.

The Tigers had multiple rushes during the second quarter, several of which came from freshman wide receiver Luther Burden III. Nearly halfway through the quarter, after the Tigers had pushed the ball to the 5 yard line, Burden rushed the ball into the end zone to bring Missouri ahead 21-3. Once the Bulldogs gained possession, however, Downing passed the ball to redshirt senior tight end Griffin Hebert, who ran 75 yards into the end zone for a Louisiana Tech touchdown. After continuing to push towards their end zone, the Tigers ended the half with a 31-yard field goal from junior kicker Harrison Mevis, advancing the score to 24-10.

Cook dominated the second half with a much improved deep ball. He found junior tight end Tyler Stephens for 28 yards, and later threw another pass to sophomore wide receiver Dominic Lovett for 29 yards. Lovett also rushed the ball 18 yards to push the Tigers to the 1-yard line, where Burden rushed the ball into the end zone on the next play, advancing the Tigers’ lead to 31-10 with 8:18 left in the quarter.

Toward the end of the third quarter, Louisiana Tech redshirt sophomore linebacker Maki Carabin intercepted a pass from Cook and returned it for 11 yards, but Missouri quickly recovered, gaining possession back in under a minute. With 40 seconds left in the quarter, Cook rushed the ball 20 yards for a Missouri touchdown, giving the Tigers a 38-10 lead.

“I’ve been able to build chemistry with the whole offense, which helps my confidence, and I think that will continue to build,” Cook said.

Louisiana Tech started the fourth quarter at full force, with redshirt senior quarterback Parker McNeil finding freshman wide receiver Cyrus Allen for a 64-yard touchdown, bringing the Bulldogs within 38-17. However, the Tigers continued controlling the game, as running backs stepped up and Cook found success throwing down the field. Senior running back Nathaniel Peat recorded a 34-yard touchdown run to increase Missouri’s lead to 45-17, and sophomore running back BJ Harris added his own touchdown with a little over three minutes remaining to make it 52-17. Even though McNeil threw a 37-yard pass to Allen for a touchdown with 50 seconds left, the Tigers still came out victorious, ending the night 52-24.

The Tigers began their season with a 1-0 record and look to continue their winning streak Saturday, Sept. 10 when the team will travel to play Kansas State. Head coach Eliah Drinkwitz is confident that with nine days to prepare, the Tigers will be able to fix the errors they made against Louisiana Tech.

“One of the things that we talked about last night was running into the fight on both sides of the ball,” Drinkwitz said. “If the offense turns the ball over, the defense needs to run into the fight to make the stop, and the defense either gives up a touchdown or gets it done, but we’ve got to run into the fight. I think we were able to do that.”

Edited by Brandon Haynes | bhaynes@themaneater.com