Editor’s Note: The headline was updated on Sept. 23 to accurately reflect the score of the game.
The Missouri Tigers improved to 4-0 on the season after beating the South Carolina Gamecocks 29-20 Sept. 20, further solidifying the team’s status as a potential playoff contender. Starting quarterback Beau Pribula is undefeated in his career with the Tigers, and Missouri extended its home win streak to 14 games, spanning over the last three seasons.
Looking back on the Mayor’s Cup victory, the Tigers’ can realize that an elite rushing attack, immense pressure in the backfield and strong play from second-stringers are crucial to the team’s success.
Best ground game in the nation?
After rushing for 287 yards against the Gamecocks’ defense, Missouri now ranks No. 2 in the nation in total rushing yards, tallying 1,192 on the season, trailing Indiana.
The Cerberus of Ahmad Hardy, Jamal Roberts and Pribula combined for 287 yards and two touchdowns against South Carolina, averaging 6.2 yards per carry in the process.
Both Hardy and Roberts average at least 7.1 yards per carry on the season, while neither of Indiana’s top two usage backs have reached the number. The Tigers also have 13 rushing touchdowns on the season, ranking eleventh in the nation –– and two more than Indiana.
In his freshman campaign with Louisiana Monroe, Hardy racked up 1,012 yards after contact and 93 missed tackles. He’s continued the trend in his sophomore season with Missouri, acting as a game-breaking glitch who’s nearly impossible to bring down.
His touchdown against the Gamecocks came in his signature fashion, bouncing off of a four-man pileup and rerouting his way to the end zone for a touchdown. Hardy has eclipsed 100 rushing yards in every game this season, averaging 7.6yards per carry for 600 yards.
Roberts has leapt from a potential supplement in Hardy’s absence to a very real
partner in crime, totaling 222 yards on the ground this season.
“We’re a one-two punch,” Hardy said. “What he can’t do, I can do, and what I can’t do, he can do.”
Adding a mobile quarterback like Pribula has thrown a third fold into the ground game, completing the three-headed monster.
“He just makes us even more dangerous,” Hardy said.
Intruders in the chicken coop
Gamecocks’ quarterback LaNorris Sellers has relied on the protection from his offensive line to keep clean in the coop. The Tigers, however, walked in and roughed Sellers up with ease.
Missouri racked up five sacks and eight tackles for loss on the night, living in the Gamecocks’ backfield.
Senior defensive tackle Chris McClellan was confident of his unit’s ability to dominate heading into the matchup. He logged 0.5 sacks and 0.5 tackles for loss, healthily contributing to the pack.
“There was no doubt in anybody’s mind –– especially my mind –– that we were gonna go out there and do what we want to with them,” McClellan said.
The Tigers have put pressure on quarterbacks and running backs alike this season, blowing up backfields at a high rate. Missouri ranks fourth in the Southeastern Conference with 11 sacks and has clamped up opponents’ rushing attacks.
In the team’s two Power Four games, the Tigers held Kansas to 31 rushing yards and South Carolina to -9 rushing yards.
Missouri’s front seven has been disruptive, to say the least, and looks to be among the nation’s strongest units.
‘Next man up’ mentality
Multiple Tigers filling in for injured starters had their names called upon tonight, and each came through.
Starting left tackle Cayden Green was ruled out of the contest just under 24 hours before kickoff, leaving redshirt junior Jayven Richardson to start on short notice. Richardson took reps with the starting unit in spring and fall camp, but he was shifted to the second unit just weeks before the season began.
Richardson handled the change perfectly.
“I think Jayven Richardson is a testament to what being a great teammate is all about,” head coach Eliah Drinkwitz said. “He could have pouted, he could have been disappointed … what he did was every day, he went to work.”
Freshman kicker Robert Meyer has filled in for starting kicker Blake Craig, who’s out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. Meyer’s range had yet to be proven effective heading into the Mayor’s Cup matchup, missing a 41-yard attempt against Louisiana in Week 3.
Meyer also missed his first kick of the game against South Carolina, missing an extra point after the Tigers’ first touchdown. However, with an opportunity to clinch the
game and put the Tigers up two scores, Drinkwitz sent Meyer out to ice the game.
Drinkwitz had a simple message for Meyer before the 40-yard game-clincher: “We believe in you.”
Meyer drilled the kick, sealing the victory for the Tigers.
The second-stringers of the team have come up big whenever called upon, something Drinkwitz knows is crucial to success.
“Ultimately, we’re trying to be a team of teams,” Drinkwitz said. “Everybody on this team has a role, and their job is to continue to be as good a player as they can be … when their opportunity calls, go in there and embrace the role.”
Edited by Colin Simmons l [email protected]
Copy edited by Avery Copeland | [email protected]
Edited by Alex Gribb | [email protected]
