Mizzou running back Cody Schrader scores a touchdown in Saturday’s 34-12 win over South Carolina at Faurot Field. (Photo: Terrance Williams)

NCAA Football – Oct. 21, 20231st2nd3rd4thFinal
South Carolina (2-5, 1-4)036312
#20 Missouri (7-1, 3-1)141001034

Cedric Williams
Senior Editor

COLUMBIA, MO — Cody Schrader ran for 159 yards and scored two touchdowns, and the University of Missouri defense sacked the South Carolina quarterback six times in the No. 20-ranked Tigers’ 34-12 Homecoming Day victory over the visiting Gamecocks, Saturday afternoon in front of a sellout crowd at Faurot Field.

The victory lifted Missouri’s record to 7-1, marking the first time the Tigers were 7-1 since 2013. The full-house crowd of 62,621 was Mizzou’s third straight home sellout, which is the first time the program has sold out three straight games since 2008.

“We’re very grateful and appreciative of the crowd that came out today,” Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “They were great. They were here early and they were loud. It really helped with the energy and excitement in the whole stadium today.”

That energy and excitement grew quickly, as the Tigers scored on four straight first-half possessions to take a 24-0 lead late in the second quarter.

The first big play came on Mizzou’s second possession of the game, when quarterback Brady Cook hit wideout Luther Burden III for a 42-yard touchdown pass to put the Tigers up 7-0. Burden outran two South Carolina defenders on a deep post route and made a spectacular leaping grab before falling into the end zone for the score.

“They were playing a lot of zone to start the game,” Cook said. “So we were expecting Cover 4, which is what they were in. So we had a couple of swing routes on that play to draw them in and we sent Luther deep through them. He got behind them and he made the play. I was watching it and I just thought, ‘I can’t believe he caught that’. It was great execution by everyone on that play.”

Mizzou stopped South Carolina for a three-and-out on its next possession, which gave the ball right back to the Tiger offense, which went right down the field for another score. Schrader capped off that drive with a 10 yard run to make the score 14-0.

“We feel like we’re getting better,” Schrader said. “I’ve got to credit our offensive line. They’ve guys have been working so hard to cut down on penalties and really finish their assignments. And you can see it on plays like that one. There was nobody around me. I just walked right into the end zone on that one.”

Cook broke free for a 17-yard touchdown run on Mizzou’s next drive. That put the Tigers up 21-0, which became 24-0 when Harrison Mevis added 21-yard yard field goal with 1:50 left in the half.

South Carolina got on the board with a field goal of its own in the final seconds of the half to send the teams into halftime with the score at 24-3. Missouri put up 294 yards of offense in the first half and held South Carolina to 88 yards in what was a truly dominant first half performance by the Tigers.

“Really proud of the energy they had in the first half,” Drinkwitz said. “Offensively, to come out, score on three of the first four possessions. Defensively, go out there and really stuffed them all the way up until halftime.”

South Carolina put up three field goals in the second half and held Mizzou to just one of its own to pull to within 27-12, but following a brilliant leaping interception by safety Joseph Carlies, the Tigers put the game away with a grinding, nine-play, 67-yard drive that ended with Schrader’s second touchdown of the day — an 11-yard jaunt through a once again wide open hole to make the score 34-12.

“We pride ourselves in dominating the line of scrimmage,” Schrader said. “We want to run the football. We believe in that — that’s why we play the positions that we play.”

Cook finished the day with 198 passing yards, one touchdown throw, and a touchdown run, and Burden had four catches for 90 yards and his one score. But other than Schrader, the real stars of the game was the Missouri defense, which did dominate the line of scrimmage and harassed South Carolina’s Rattler all day.

The Tigers sacked Rattler six times, hit him a bunch of other times, and was in his face all game long.

“Our mantra for the week was ‘let’s rattle Rattler’,” Drinkwitz said. “We knew we couldn’t let him get comfortable and let that offense get in any kind of rhythm. Coach (Blake) Baker did an outstanding job getting after them offensively. To hold them to four field goals, I think, was incredible.”

Mizzou will now move on to a much needed bye week. That will give the Tigers a chance to rest and recover from the bumps and bruises of playing non-stop football since late July. Mizzou’s next game will be in two weeks, when the Tigers travel south for a huge SEC showdown to against No. 1-ranked Georgia on November 4.

“We’re not even thinking about that,” Drinkwitz said. “We’re focused on this bye week. It couldn’t come at a better time for us. “We’ve been going since July 30, and this is eight straight weeks (of games) plus those four weeks (of preseason camp). We needed this bye week and I was worried about getting to this finish line.”

Schrader, a noted football-aholic said, “I’m so excited (about getting some time off). I love playing football, but I think we’ve had 12 consecutive weeks (without a break) since fall camp, so I know we’re definitely gonna enjoy this.”

Scoring Summary

QtrTimeScoring PlaySCMIZ
1st06:31MIZ – Burden,Luther 42 yd pass from Cook,Brady (Mevis,Harrison kick) 5 plays, 67 yards, TOP 02:3007
1st00:46MIZ – Schrader,Cody 10 yd run (Mevis,Harrison kick), 7 plays, 59 yards, TOP 03:26014
2nd08:21MIZ – Cook,Brady 17 yd run (Mevis,Harrison kick), 10 plays, 87 yards, TOP 04:02021
2nd01:50MIZ – Mevis,Harrison 21 yd field goal 9 plays, 82 yards, TOP 03:48024
2nd00:31SC – Jeter,Mitch 51 yd field goal 10 plays, 42 yards, TOP 01:19324
3rd10:37SC – Jeter,Mitch 41 yd field goal 10 plays, 54 yards, TOP 04:16624
3rd07:07SC – Jeter,Mitch 38 yd field goal 5 plays, 14 yards, TOP 01:44924
4th13:42MIZ – Mevis,Harrison 53 yd field goal 10 plays, 26 yards, TOP 04:35927
4th10:31SC – Jeter,Mitch 21 yd field goal 9 plays, 72 yards, TOP 03:111227
4th02:46MIZ – Schrader,Cody 11 yd run (Mevis,Harrison kick), 9 plays, 67 yards, TOP 03:341234

2023 MISSOURI TIGERS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

DateGametimeAtOpponentLocationTV
November 4, 2023 (Saturday)TBAAway#1 GeorgiaAthens, Ga.
November 11, 2023 (Saturday)TBAHome#17 TennesseeFaurot Field
November 18, 2023 (Saturday)TBAHomeFloridaFaurot Field
November 24, 2023 (Friday)3:00 PMAwayArkansasFayetteville, Ark.CBS