It was a bad day in College Station, Texas for the Missouri Tigers, struggling on all sides of the ball
Missouri trotted into College Station, Texas, boasting the longest active winning streak in all of college football. This all came crashing down in four brutal quarters of play.
There is a lot for the Tigers to take away from No. 15 Texas A&M’s 41-10 throttling of Missouri — and none of it is good. However, there is still plenty of season yet to be played and time to turn things around.
What went wrong and what can Missouri take away from this matchup in hopes of preventing another substantial loss in the future?
Third Downs
Whether it be on defense or offense, third downs were a glaring issue for the Tigers. Third downs are crucial in swinging the momentum of the game. However, Missouri could not control this facet on either side of the ball.
Through the first half, the Tigers failed to convert on a single third down offensively. Meanwhile, the Aggies were paying rent off of third down conversions going 6 for 8 in the opening half. This level of play is difficult for any defense to overcome. While the Tigers ultimately made up some ground, scoring 10 points in the second half, the point differential was insurmountable as the Aggies were ahead by 31 points.
“The start of the first half, not being able to convert third downs, not being able to stop them on third down, ultimately was the difference in the game,” said head coach Eliah Drinkwitz in the post game press conference.
Missed Opportunities
The Tigers attempted an aggressive approach to open the game. While this didn’t seem to be a bad strategic decision, it was highly ineffective. On the Tigers first play from scrimmage, quarterback Brady Cook unloaded a 27-yard strike to wide receiver Luther Burden III — it happened to be a downward spiral from here on out.
That first drive ended with a turnover on downs in enemy territory and a failed fourth down pass attempt to receiver Theo Wease Jr. Two drives later, the Tigers had a 75-yard touchdown pass from Cook to Burden erased from the scoreboard because of an illegal man downfield penalty.
The aggressiveness failed to pay off as the Tigers finished the game 1 for 4 on fourth down attempts, unable to convert with the score getting out of hand. While the defense struggled to stunt any of the Aggie’s momentum, the offense did the team no favors.
Big Plays
The Tigers allowed the Aggie offense a total of 15 plays of 10 yards or more, outgaining Missouri 512 to 254 in total offensive yards. The Aggies played like a well-oiled machine, coming up with big plays seemingly at will. This included a 75-yard touchdown run by running back Le’Veon Moss to open the second half, devastating any hopes of a Tigers’ comeback.
The Tigers never found their footing and remained off queue throughout the game on offense.
Missouri often went back to the well, looking for big plays themselves, but continued to come up dry. Cook only managed to complete 8 of 25 passes beyond the line of scrimmage. Missouri’s lone touchdown, however, came on a 59-yard completion to Wease with the game well out of reach.
Blown coverages and long touchdowns have been the weak point of an otherwise consistent Tiger defense. Offensively, Cook has played a clean and consistent season to this point, though he repeatedly failed to connect on the deep ball. The Aggies took advantage of these issues and the Tigers’ struggles were amplified in this loss.
What Now?
The Missouri fairytale is over and their win streak is no more. The Tigers plummeted 12 spots in the AP Poll to No. 21. Their College Football Playoff hopes are dwindling and the Tigers cannot afford another lopsided loss moving forward.
Drinkwitz faces the challenge of cleaning up the team’s mistakes which is much easier said than done. Luckily the Tigers have a lineup of intriguing matchups over the coming weeks where Drinkwitz and company can make their case to the playoff selection committee.
“Every game’s a totally new matchup,” said Drinkwitz. “Every team’s different. Everything’s unique. We’re going to have to get on the plane, get home, figure out this game tomorrow, put it to bed on Monday, and then focus on the next opponent, which is UMass. All the future stuff, I’m not worried about any of that right now. I’m worried about this team figuring out how we can improve.”
Missouri will need to be close to perfect if they have any hope of making the first ever 12 team college football playoffs. Missouri will look to put their woes in the past and bounce back in Amherst, Mass. as the Tigers are back on the road to take on Massachusetts at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12.
Edited by Michael Stamps | mstamps@themaneater.com
Copyedited by Maggie Atkinson and Hannah Taylor | htaylor@themaneater.com
Edited by Emily Skidmore | eskidmore@themaneater.com