Courtesy of SEC Media Portal
For four quarters Saturday night, fans of both the Missouri Tigers and the Kentucky Wildcats watched a classic SEC matchup.
The Tigers never gave up at a packed Kroger Field. Down by more than 14 at one point, they tied the game early in the fourth quarter, but lost 35-28.
Tyler Badie is the heart and soul of the Tigers offense
Senior running back Tyler Badie didn’t have the same performance as last week, but he still showed how versatile of a running back he is.
Badie rushed for 61 yards on 14 carries, but the more impressive stat was his 88 receiving yards on 10 receptions, which included a 17-yard touchdown off a screen pass from sophomore quarterback Connor Bazelak on third and 15. No other Tiger had more than 6 receptions.
After two games, Badie not only leads the team with 280 total rushing yards, but he also has 13 receptions for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns. He has already shown that he is the most important piece to this offense — aside from Bazelak — and is fourth in the NCAA in all-purpose yards.
“The dude is playing his butt off,” Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “He’s a factor in both the run game and the pass game, and has to run a lot of routes and a lot of yardage. He’s a really good football player, and we need him to continue to be for our offense to have any chance at success.”
Third down efficiency kept the Tigers in the game
Another positive from Missouri’s Week 2 loss is how efficient it was on third down conversions.
Last week against Central Michigan, the Tigers only managed to convert 1 of their 11 (9%) third down tries. Against the Wildcats defense, Missouri converted 9 of 15 third down attempts (60%). Across four scoring drives, the Tigers went 8-8 in third down conversions, with two of them going from touchdowns.
The Tigers defense experiences the quality of Kentucky’s offensive line
On Saturday, Kentucky resembled the team they were a few years ago by running the ball 52 times for 333 yards (6.4 yards per attempt).
Kentucky’s offensive line was as good as advertised. Wildcat junior quarterback Will Levis didn’t need to do much through the air. He went 10-18 for 179 yards with a touchdown and interception, but the Wildcats found success by opening up running lanes and gashing the Tigers defense on the ground.
“We got our butts whipped up front and weren’t able to stop the run,” Drinkwitz said.
Junior running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. found success against the Tigers. He set career highs with 27 carries for 206 yards and three scores on the ground. Only I’Tavius Mathers of Middle Tennessee State ran for more yards against the Tigers in 2016.
Jaylon Carlies’ forced fumble changed the game
In the closing moments of the first half, it seemed as if Kentucky was set to put the game out of reach.
Up 21-7, the Wildcats methodically drove downfield by handing the ball off to running backs Rodriguez Jr. and junior running back Kavosiey Smoke.
From the Tigers 8-yard line, Rodriguez Jr. took a handoff from Levis and sprinted off the left tackle towards the end zone but was met around the 3-yard line by sophomore defensive back Jaylon Carlies. Rodriguez Jr. coughed up the ball, which rolled into the end zone and was recovered by junior linebacker Chad Bailey for a touchback.
The Tigers then responded by going 80 yards downfield in a minute and 37 seconds, which ended with a Bazelak touchdown pass to grad student Keke Chism right before halftime.
Carlies has come up big throughout the first two weeks of the season. He intercepted a pass against Central Michigan, and forced a fumble and picked off a Levis pass in the beginning of the second quarter.
“He’s really stepping into his role, and he’s becoming a great player for our defense,” junior safety Martez Manuel said. “[It’s] a lot of fun to play next to him.”
It’s still early in the season
While a conference loss early in the year stings, there are still SEC games left to play. While Missouri didn’t come out with the result it wanted, the Tigers fought back and played a close game on the road in a hostile environment.
“We fought our butts off, we played hard, we had an opportunity but didn’t get it done,” Drinkwitz said. “But there’s a lot of season left and a lot of fight left in this football team, and that’s what I like to see.”
The Tigers host the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks today at 11 a.m.
Edited by Kyle Pinnell | kpinnell@themaneater.com