Junior defensive end Shane Ray walked to the line and took his position. The ball was hiked, and he darted past the offensive lineman across from him. Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel cocked his arm and readied his throw. But at the last second Ray raked his arm and violently slung him to the ground.
The ball bounded away before senior defensive end Markus Golden scooped it up and took off down field. Golden shook a tackler and made a beeline for the goalline. He stormed into the endzone with Ray close behind and hugs his teammate before pulling out a celebratory gator chomp.
“I was keying the ball, and I was able to get a good get-off,” Ray said. “I was able to bend the edge and strip the ball. Markus picked it up, broke a tackle and took it to the endzone. It was just that simple.”
A mere minute and a half later, Driskel stepped back to throw again. Senior linebacker Darvin Ruise knew what was coming and jumped the route. He hauled in the pass and took off for another six points.
Golden and Ruise’s golden moments helped get the Tiger defense rebound in a big way after the team’s embarrassing home loss to Georgia a week ago. The Missouri defense held Florida to a mere 13 points and, thanks to the two defensive touchdowns, outscored the Gators by itself.
“We had a really bad taste in our mouth after Georgia,” senior defensive tackle Lucas Vincent said. “Everybody just worked really hard this week to make sure that it wasn’t going to happen again.”
The defense tallied a season-high six turnovers on the night. This comes on the heels of a three game stretch without a single takeaway, the longest such streak in the past four seasons. The Tiger defenders are hoping now, after trampling Florida, that they have their mojo back.
“We’re getting back to what we do as Missouri Tigers: getting takeaways and making big plays,” Ray said. “That’s what we’ve been lacking in our defense these past couple of weeks in our defense. We made an emphasis to go out there and attack the ball, and we did a good job.”
Missouri began the season by forcing three turnovers against South Dakota State, two against Toledo and four against Central Florida.
The Monday after Mizzou failed to force a turnover against Indiana, starting its three-game streak without a takeaway, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel emphasized the importance of winning the turnover battle.
Coaches and players alike harp on the importance of having a positive turnover margin in each game. Ruise said that against Florida, that was the secret to victory. But it wasn’t too secret: six turnovers are pretty obvious.
“Whenever you win the turnover battle your chances of winning go up dramatically,” Ruise said. “Getting turnovers and getting the ball back to Maty and the offense is a big part of what we do here at Mizzou.”
Senior safety Braylon Webb, the veteran leader of the Tigers’ secondary, snagged two interceptions of his own in the Tigers’ victory.
He said his picks, like other turnovers, were key. And similar play the rest of the season, he said, will be vital.
“That’s always the goal: to get takeaways,” Webb said. “Takeaways equal victory, and that’s a testament to that game.”