- I said this at halftime, and I’ll say it again now. Missouri just dominated Kentucky at its own game. A week after throwing the ball for 406 yards, the Tigers ran the ball over, and over, and over. And it worked. There weren’t many huge gains, but if you can average 3.5 yards per carry over 66 (!) runs, you take that every time. That put the offense in manageable third and fourth down situations, where Bazelak was sharp. Mizzou converted 10 of 20 third downs, and then four of five fourth downs. On the flip side, the defense largely dominated. Kentucky gained just 145 total yards and was 2-9 on third downs. Then Josh Bledsoe came up with the big takeaway at the end of the game to seal it. He’s having himself a nice senior season. All of that led to a time of possession differential of 43 minutes to 17, which is the biggest I’ve ever seen.
- I give tons of credit Eli Drinkwitz and his staff for adapting their scheme and strategy from one opponent to the next. The game-plan was quite a bit more conservative, which I thought was wise. The one thing I will say is the decision to go for it at the end of the 21-play drive to start the third quarter made little sense. A field goal would have made it a two-score game, and if Drinkwitz didn’t trust the offense to get one yard for a touchdown at the end of the first half, I’m not sure why he did so there. The field goal was more valuable later in the game and when up seven than when up four in the first half. It all worked out, though.
- Connor Bazelak wasn’t perfect. He missed a few throws in the second half today. But man, you have to love his poise and decision making. Once again, he never really put the ball in harm’s way against a defense that has been unreal at forcing interceptions the past two weeks. He never looked rattled in the pocket, and he had a good feel for when to hang in and when to take off and run, especially on third down. I just get more and more impressed the more I watch him.
- It has to feel good to finally beat Kentucky. That losing streak was one of the more baffling elements of Barry Odom’s tenure. (Admit it, there was a point there early in the fourth quarter where this one felt a lot like the 2018 game.) As we said all week leading up to the game, consistently beating the likes of Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee is the first step in getting this program back to where Drinkwitz wants it. After this win, I think .500 is very much in play for Missouri this season, which I think would be a great success.
Enjoy it. Much more coverage to come.
