Mizzou safety Marvin Burks (1) celebrates with teammate Jalen Marshall, following an interception in the first half of Saturday’s NCAA football game against Buffalo. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
| NCAA Football | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo (1-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| #9 Missouri (2-0) | 3 | 21 | 7 | 7 | 38 |
COLUMBIA, MO — With all the offseason talk about its dynamic offense and how many potential pros it might have, the University of Missouri football team’s defense is the one on a historic run.
On Saturday at Faurot Field, the Tigers pummeled visiting Buffalo, 38-0, to produce the program’s first two season-opening shutout wins since 1935. And dating back to last season’s Cotton Bowl victory against Ohio State, Missouri has gone 12 quarters without allowing a touchdown. That’s a feat that hasn’t happened since 1941.
As the only team in the country that has yet to give up a point this season, Missouri’s “Death Row Defense” is making a name for itself.
“All offseason, you see in the media, you see yadda yadda yadda: ‘What’s the defense going to be? Is it still going to be that same Death Row Defense that we’ve had?’ ” Mizzou quarterback Brady Cook said. “They’ve not shied away. They came out strong (in) the first two games. They’re doing their thing right now.”
Stifling the offenses of rebuilding FCS programs like last week’s opponent, Murray State, or Group of Five programs like Buffalo, won’t answer those questions with complete certainty, but it does reflect a theme of Mizzou’s opening two weeks of this season, which head coach Eli Drinkwitz made a point of with his players before Saturday’s game.
“That was actually the pregame speech,” Drinkwitz said. “Take advantage of opportunities and don’t disrespect the fans or the game by assuming that the other team’s not going to play.”
Mizzou safety Marvin Burks, Jr., celebrates making an interception in Saturday’s NCAA Football game against Buffalo. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
The Mizzou defense forced Buffalo into four three-and-outs and stopped the Bulls (1-1) twice on fourth downs, limiting the visitors to 169 total yards, with only 55 of those coming through the air.
Linebacker Corey Flagg Jr., led Mizzou with six tackles. The Tigers sacked Buffalo quarterback C.J. Ogbonna three times, had five tackles for loss, including two by Johnny Walker Jr., and Marvin Burks Jr. — the native St. Louisan who played at Cardinal Ritter, grabbed his first career interception in the first quarter.
“We’ve got a lot of depth over there and a lot of consistency and a lot of guys holding each other to a standard,” Mizzou head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “And I think when you can just send waves of players who are fresh, continually, I think that’s hard on an offense.”
Mizzou ends Joe Moore and Eddie Kelly swarm Buffalo QB C.J. Ogbonna on a pass play in Saturday’s NCAA Football game at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
The Mizzou offense was led by quarterback Brady Cook, who completed 28-of-36 passes for 228 yards and rushed five times for 62 yards and two touchdowns. Receiver Theo Wease, Jr., put up career highs with 13 catches for 149 yards
Teammate Luther Burden III scored the first touchdown of the game, on a 3-yard run, in the second quarter, before leaving just before halftime due to a sickness. He did not return and was not seen on the sideline in the second half.
“Luther’s been battling an illness all week,” Drinkwitz said. “He scored that touchdown and played a little after that. But then, we just thought it wasn’t worth it to have him out there. So we kept him out.”
Even without Burden, Mizzou took firm control in the second quarter. Following Burden’s score, Cook scored twice, including a dazzling 31-yard touchdown run that included a somersault into the end zone that brought the sold out crowd to its feet and gave the Tigers a 24-0 halftime lead.
In the second half, running backs Nate Noel and Jamal Roberts scored touchdowns to help Mizzou put the game away. Noel led all rushers with 73 yards on 12 carries, while teammate Marcus Carroll added 62 yards on 12 carries of his own.
“Offensively, some good things (and) some frustrating things,” Drinkwitz said. “A lot of penalties tonight. We got to get those cleaned up.”
Mizzou RB Marcus Carroll breaks free on a run during the second quarter of Saturday’s NCAA Football game at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
Mizzou’s competition will get much stiffer in its next contest, when the No. 9-ranked Tigers (2-0) will host Boston College on Saturday at Faurot Field. BC is also 2-0 on the season and may be listed in the Top 25 when the new rankings come out next week.
Last week, the Eagles were on the “others receiving votes” list and after their dominating win over Duquesne on Saturday, they might move up when the new ranking votes are tallied.
Kickoff for Saturday’s contest is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. The game will be televised live nationally on the SEC Network.
SCORING SUMMARY
| Qtr | Time | Scoring Play | BUF | MIZ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 10:47 | MIZ – Craig,Blake 51 yd field goal 7 plays, 26 yards, TOP 03:21 | 0 | 3 |
| 2nd | 12:13 | MIZ – Burden,Luther 3 yd run (Craig,Blake kick), 10 plays, 64 yards, TOP 05:09 | 0 | 10 |
| 2nd | 06:12 | MIZ – Cook,Brady 3 yd run (Craig,Blake kick), 9 plays, 69 yards, TOP 03:55 | 0 | 17 |
| 2nd | 01:51 | MIZ – Cook,Brady 31 yd run (Craig,Blake kick), 4 plays, 55 yards, TOP 01:12 | 0 | 24 |
| 3rd | 01:00 | MIZ – Noel,Nate 4 yd run (Craig,Blake kick), 8 plays, 47 yards, TOP 04:17 | 0 | 31 |
| 4th | 00:31 | MIZ – Roberts,Jamal 3 yd run (Craig,Blake kick), 10 plays, 53 yards, TOP 03:08 | 0 | 38 |
MISSOURI TIGERS 2024 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location | TV | Radio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 14, 2024 (Saturday) | 11:45 AM | Home | Boston College | Columbia, Mo. / Faurot Field |  | Tiger Radio Network |
| September 21, 2024 (Saturday) | TBA | Home | Vanderbilt | Columbia, Mo. / Faurot Field | Tiger Radio Network | |
| October 5, 2024 (Saturday) | 11 AM | Away | Texas A&M | College Station, Texas | Tiger Radio Network | |
| October 12, 2024 (Saturday) | TBA | Away | UMass | Amherst, Mass. | Tiger Radio Network | |
| October 19, 2024 (Saturday) | TBA | Home | Auburn | Columbia, Mo. / Faurot Field | Tiger Radio Network | |
| October 26, 2024 (Saturday) | TBA | Away | #4 Alabama | Tuscaloosa, Ala. | Tiger Radio Network | |
| November 9, 2024 (Saturday) | TBA | Home | #15 Oklahoma | Columbia, Mo. / Faurot Field | Tiger Radio Network | |
| November 16, 2024 (Saturday) | TBA | Away | South Carolina | Columbia, S.C. | Tiger Radio Network | |
| November 23, 2024 (Saturday) | TBA | Away | Mississippi State | Starkville, Miss. | Tiger Radio Network | |
| November 30, 2024 (Saturday) | TBA | Home | Arkansas | Columbia, Mo. / Faurot Field | Tiger Radio Network |