3 Takeaways From Mizzou’s Blowout Win Over UMass

COLUMBIA, Mo. — It may not have started pretty, but the No. 20 Missouri Tigers eventually cruised to a 42-6 win over UMass on their annual Homecoming night. 

Like usual, the Tigers controlled the ground game on offense and had no issues stopping the run on defense. The duo of Ahmad Hardy and Jamal Roberts was simply too much for the Minutemen to handle, combining for 182 total rushing yards and four touchdowns. This was primarily how the Tigers got the ball rolling on offense. 

There were a few slip-ups defensively, but eventually the unit got into the flow of the game. The run defense remained stout and prevented Rocko Griffin and Brandon Hood from running loose, despite a solid chunk play here and there. 

Missouri woke up as a whole in the second half and didn't ever allow any momentum to be generated from its opponent. The Tigers were able to empty their bench as the game came to a conclusion, letting a plethora of younger players get some snaps.

Here are three takeaways from Missouri’s win after improving to 5-0 on the season. 

A drowsy start

The Tigers were always in control of this game, but there certainly were moments in the first thirty minutes of play, especially the first quarter, where they didn’t look fully awake. 

There was no reason for this to be the case, but it was evident. Beau Pribula’s interception in the first quarter was a perfect example of this, looking completely oblivious to UMass linebacker Timmy Hinspeter, who nearly took it all the way to the house. It was a lazy throw from Pribula, who’s generally made good ones to this point. 

UMass quarterback AJ Hairston was also finding some early success against the Missouri secondary, an area that’s been under scrutiny as of late for their performances in recent games. Hairston completed a few passes that picked apart Missouri’s secondary, including a 15-yard pitch and catch to wide receiver Donnie Gray to convert on third down. This extended a dead-in-the-water drive for the Minutemen in the second quarter. 

This wasn’t the worst football by any means, but there’s no doubt that head coach Eli Drinkwitz would have liked a cleaner first half. There were multiple tiny mistakes in the opening half as well, like a pass interference charged to Toriano Pride Jr. in the first quarter and a holding penalty on left guard Dominick Giudice in the second. 

Beau’s decision-making

By no means was Pribula bad in the Tigers’ fifth win of the season, but he did make some questionable decisions while he was in the game. His interception is the first one that comes to mind for a variety of reasons. 

He was escaping the pocket and it was starting to collapse, but he did have green grass in front of him if he opted to keep it himself. It also looked like he was targeting tight end Brett Norfleet, who was nowhere close to being open. Roberts was open to his left, but that was clearly not the end goal. The ball also slipped out of his hands, making for one big disaster. It simply wasn’t a good choice by Pribula and was also avoidable. 

The first time he was sacked in the second quarter was also a questionable decision. He held onto the ball for too long and was brought down by Hinspeter, stalling that drive. He was sacked two other times in the second half, both of which occurred when he looked dazed in the pocket. 

Comfort and decision-making in the pocket have been a slight challenge for Pribula so far and this would have been a great opportunity for him to show some improvement. He looked shaky at times and at least two of the four sacks he took were avoidable. This will be a clear area for improvement moving forward for Pribula. 

Pribula did finish with 241 passing yards and one touchdown on 26-for-29 passing despite some questionable decisions. His efficiency improved as the game went on and he went on to complete 21 straight passes, breaking a school record, but that doesn’t excuse a few of the early errors he made. 

A lack of explosive plays

The Tigers scored plenty of points, all of which came on the ground, but failed to execute any large passing plays. The longest one of the game was between Pribula and Tavorus Jones for 20 yards on the left sideline. The longest offensive play of the game in general was a 30-yard run from Roberts. 

It never truly seemed like Pribula had good opportunities to advance the ball far down the field, based on both play calling and pressure from the defense. He was sacked four times and pressured even more, forcing him into more pressure-filled situations than he likely expected. 

That being said, there weren’t any big-time passing plays that were ever dialed up and Pribula never went out of his way to take shots. The majority of his passing attempts, which were efficient for the most part, were short-field targets to Kevin Coleman Jr. The Tigers struggled to get guys like Marquis Johnson involved in the deep passing game. 

Pribula never attempted a deep ball in this game, which might raise some eyebrows. Maybe it’s because they didn’t need to against UMass since the running game had a high likelihood of being successful, but it still stands true that there were no deep shots taken. 

Luckily for the Tigers, the running game was on point. Hardy finished with 130 yards and three touchdowns. Roberts didn’t get much run outside of the first quarter, but also managed to rack up 52 yards and a score. Jones and Marquise Davis even got in on the fun, running for 24 and 77 yards, respectively.