Columbia, MO– An announced sellout crowd of over 62,000 poured into Memorial Stadium on a perfect homecoming evening in anticipation of a fifth straight Mizzou home win. There would be no letdowns on this night as the Tigers held off a scrappy Ole Miss squad in route to a 38-27 win.
The Tigers utilized a balanced offensive attack to keep Ole Miss on its heels throughout the night and quarterback Kelly Bryant showed little effect from a knee injury that knocked him out of the second half against Troy a week ago.
“Excited for our team to find a way to win a tough game. ” Odom said after the game. “Had to win it in the fourth and we anticipated that happening as we went into the week.”
5 takeaways from Mizzou’s homecoming win over Ole Miss
- Missouri’s offense was impressive. The Ole Miss rush defense had been very stout leading up to this game and Mizzou went for 233 on the ground. Mizzou got a 41-yard touchdown from Larry Rountree and a 54-yard scamper from Dawson Downing, a play in which he dragged a defender and stretched the ball over the goal line. Kelly Bryant was equally efficient, throwing for 329 yards and a touchdown (although his 1 interception helped keep the Rebels within arms reach).
- Welcome back to Faurot Field Mizzou fans. It took homecoming, a night game and near perfect weather to make it happen but the game was announced as a sellout (62,621). There has been a lot of talk about attendance lately and it was nice to see the place packed and loud. You’ve got a team that Tiger fans are really starting to believe in and a coach that has built things the right way. There are only two home games remaining (Florida and Tennessee) and there is no reason to have under 60,000 at either game.
- Mizzou leads the SEC East. Florida and Georgia both went down and, just like that, Mizzou finds itself sitting atop the SEC East with road games against Vanderbilt and Kentucky coming up. This could very easily be a 7-1 team heading into the Georgia game and the Tigers may not have to win in Athens to win the division. Obviously, the three games in which Florida, Mizzou and Georgia play each other will decide the outcome but you have to like the way things set up for the Tigers.
- The defense was good, not great. Many wondered what kind of an impact the loss of Cale Garrett would have on the defense and understandably so. The unit answered the call despite Ole Miss throwing a lot of different looks (and two quarterbacks) at them. It wasn’t a dominant defensive performance but it was certainly enough. The Rebels ran for 410 yards against Vanderbilt last week and put up over 300 against Alabama the week before.
- Wyoming is in the rear view but still shocking. Look, the team has won five straight games and it’s time to get over that loss. It was bad and even more unthinkable seeing how the team has responded. Had Missouri won that game they would likely be ranked near the top 10. As it is, it’s taken five weeks for voters to get back on board and the team will be ranked later today somewhere around 23rd. Mizzou can still accomplish everything they could possibly imagine and the Wyoming game won’t effect that whatsoever. Should the Tigers win out and win the SEC Championship, they would still be in the College Football Playoff (bowl ban notwithstanding).
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