The Missouri Tigers opened its 2023 season with a rather mundane victory over the Coyotes of South Dakota on Thursday night. The crowd of about 50,000 fervently rang in the return of the college football season on a perfect night in Columbia. Many likely went home, however, with more questions than answers about how the year will play out.
5 quick thoughts on Mizzou’s 35-10 win over South Dakota
- Senior running back Cody Schrader was a man possessed. Schrader turned in a career night with 138 yards rushing and a touchdown. It was clear the game plan was to focus on the ground game and to keep things relatively vanilla offensively.
- The “Death Row Defense” lived up to the billing. Mizzou held South Dakota to just 194 yards of total offense and forced the Coyotes to converting just 2-13 on third down. The defense did not force a turnover but were never really challenged in the game.
- This quarterback situation is going to go on for awhile, folks. Drink praised Cook after the game and told the media he didn’t care what we think and that Brady Cook could date one of his daughters if he had one that was of age. That really happened. Cook was ok in the game, don’t get me wrong. Sam Horn saw action throughout the second half but was limited to just five pass attempts. Fans and media will be asking the question all year long and Drinkwitz will have to continue answering for it.
- Last night was not a good one for haters of other sports. I constantly prop up football and specifically college football over all. I will say that after years of lamenting about how sports like baseball cannot still be a real thing, last night did me no favors. It certainly wasn’t a game that you walked away from thinking thinking you’ve just seen something amazing. This has to be what it feels like for Cardinals or Royals fans sitting there watching a game in late-August when there’s really nothing on the line.
- We really learned nothing. Jokes aside, we just don’t know anything more about this team today than we did last week. A game happened, Mizzou won and it’s time to move on to Middle Tennessee. We likely won’t find out what this team is made of until it tangles with defending Big 12 champion Kansas State on September 16th. After that, we’ll know if this is another trip down 6-6 lane or, possibly, a step in a more rewarding direction.
