COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — There are two very different ways to look at seventh-ranked Missouri's last two wins, a pair of come-from-behind affairs against Boston College and a double-overtime 30-27 victory over Vanderbilt in its SEC opener on Saturday night.
The Tigers were good enough to overcome their mistakes. Or their opponents weren't good enough to capitalize on them.
Either way, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz still has plenty to clean up before continuing the conference grind against No. 25 Texas A&M in two weeks, and with fourth-ranked Alabama and No. 15 Oklahoma still on the schedule later this season.
Opponents with much more talent, much more likely to bury a team that keeps committing penalties and mental mistakes.
“We have to take a hard look at the Missouri Tigers, and we have to figure out why we're not executing on third downs, in the red area. Why we're missing tackles, busting assignments,” Drinkwitz said. “I'm not even kind of worried about Texas A&M. I'm concerned about our team enjoying a win, being 4-0 — which is as good as we can be record-wise, but we're not as good as we can be playwise. We have to settle in on that and see what we can do to improve.”
The Tigers (4-0, 1-0 SEC) escaped against Vanderbilt (2-2, 0-1) when Blake Craig atoned for three missed field goals by hitting from 37 yards in the second overtime, and Commodores counterpart Brock Taylor missed a 31-yarder to keep the game going.
“What we want is out front of us. That's the message,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said afterward. “We're all hurt. We're all in pain right now. But we'll deal with that in the next three or four hours.”
What the Tigers want is still in front of them, too, despite all the mistakes that nearly doomed them against a Vanderbilt team that hadn't beaten an opponent ranked as highly as the Tigers since No. 6 South Carolina on Oct. 20, 2007.
On the Commodores' second possession, Missouri blew the coverage down the middle of the field, and Diego Pavia found Joseph McVay for a 65-yard touchdown reception that took the energy out of Faurot Field.
Later in the half, returner Theo Wease Jr. failed to field a short kickoff, which hopped past him and nearly to the goal line. Wease eventually picked it up, ran sideways and was fortunate to avoid a safety, getting tackled at the Missouri 2.
The Tigers' biggest gaffe came at the end of the first half, though.
Missouri had just forged a 10-all tie when it forced Vanderbilt to go three-and-out. The Tigers picked up a quick first down but were held to fourth-and-3 near midfield with 12 seconds left. Rather than punt, Cook lined up and snapped the ball quickly, and he was sacked with 8 seconds to go. The turnover gave Vanderbilt the ball with enough time to run a short pass play, setting up a 57-yard field goal by Brock Taylor that gave Lea's team the halftime lead.
“Totally my fault. That was a really haphazard decision by me,” Drinkwitz said, “and the team bailed me out. Bottom line.”
All those missteps came just one week after a cacophony of mistakes nearly cost the Tigers in their 27-21 win over Boston College. There was the broken play when the Eagles dropped the snap and proceeded to throw a 67-yard touchdown pass, and the eight penalties for 78 yards on Missouri, including two personal fouls and two flags for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Craig was 4 for 4 on field goals in that game, including a 56-yarder that helped him earn SEC special teams player of the week.
But the freshman kicker struggled mightily against Vanderbilt, banging an early 25-yarder off the upright and then missing from 40 and 46 yards in the fourth quarter, when either of the field goals would have given Missouri a 23-20 lead.
Vanderbilt began overtime with a touchdown pass from Pavia to Gabe Fisher, but Brady Cook answered for the Tigers on the next play, throwing a perfect 25-yard toss to Luther Burden II running open down the sideline.
The Tigers went three-and-out in the second overtime, when Craig hit his go-ahead 37-yarder. And when their defense held the Commodores, thanks in part to an offensive pass interference penalty, Taylor's miss from 31 yards allowed them to escape.
“We've got a lot of work to do,” said Cook, who threw for 226 yards and two scores. “I think everybody knows we can be a lot better. We have to put ourselves in better situations. At the end of the day, we have to go and execute the game plan and score more points. That's all."
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