Through the first four series of Saturday night’s Mizzou/Kentucky game, it appeared we knew exactly who the better team was. The Wildcats amassed 128 yards of total offense through its first two drives and led the hapless Tigers 14-0. It felt typical. It felt over.
Mizzou would then go on to outscore Kentucky 38-7 over the next three quarters in route to a massive SEC road win. It’s a victory that should catapult the Tigers back into the top 25 on Sunday heading into a homecoming tilt with 2-4 South Carolina.
5 thoughts on Missouri’s 38-21 win over Kentucky
- The fake punt TD may have changed Mizzou’s season. Down 14-0 and punting in opponents territory did not seem like a recipe for the Tigers to pull a road upset. Instead, punter Luke Bauer loaded up a 39-yard touch pass to Marquis Johnson to pull Mizzou to within seven. This is a play we will look back on as a giant turning point for Missouri as it’s likely a much different game without it.
- Mizzou outscored Kentucky 38-7 in the final three quarters. They also did it without all-world WR Luther Burden contributing much (2 catches, 15 yards) and Brady Cook having a pedestrian game all around (167 yards passing, 1 TD, 1 INT). This was a case of Missouri weathering the early Kentucky storm.
- The defense woke up and dominated. Do these guys practice tackling? Would it be better if Kentucky were playing against air? These were the questions Tiger fans were posing after the first two Wildcat drives and the questions were (somewhat) warranted. DL Darius Robinson had two sacks while the team finished with four total. The defense forced three Kentucky turnovers and were the biggest part of the game’s turnaround.
Eli Drinkwitz press conference after beating UK
- This win could have an immeasurable impact. Missouri just doesn’t beat Kentucky. For whatever reason (typically by hook or by crook) these games just NEVER go Mizzou’s way. The Wildcats had won seven-of-the-last-eight coming in to Saturday night. This is one of those wins that likely swayed the season from a 6/7 win type, ho-hum situation to “well, anything is still possible” type of years.
- It’s all on the table. Those are nice words to be able to use in mid-October. You can’t start talking about this team winning the SEC East until after the Georgia game in three weeks. Regardless of that, you have South Carolina coming up next week then you will see Tennessee, Florida and Arkansas on the other side of the Georgia game. You would love to see this team find three wins here and get to 9-3, although 8-4 would not be a complete disaster. Even though nine wins wouldn’t get you to Atlanta, you could likely still look at it as a pretty special season considering it’s been nine years since the Tigers have won nine or more.
