Three takeaways from Missouri football's 34-17 home win over FCS Abilene Christian
COLUMBIA, Mo. − After Week 2’s brutal loss to Kansas State, Missouri football needed to respond in a big way Saturday against Abilene Christian at Faurot Field.
The Tigers earned a 34-17 victory over the Wildcats, moving to 2-1 on the season.
Despite the win, not everything looked great for MU against a less-talented opponent.
Still, a win is a win. Here are three takeaways from this one.
Let's Luther
Before Saturday’s game, head coach Eli Drinkwitz said the Tigers wanted to give freshman wide receiver Luther Burden the ball more. Burden had been off to something of a slow start, with only three catches going into Saturday’s game, just one of those coming against Kansas State.
Drinkwitz also mentioned that the Tigers might have a new punt returner for the Abilene Christian game. That returner was Burden.
More: Why the offensive line earned an F: Our postgame grades from Mizzou football's win
After Abilene Christian went three-and-out, Burden got his first touch. He received the punt, made a few moves, then headed toward the sideline on his right.
Seventy-eight yards later, Burden was in the end zone and the Tigers led 7-0.
Later in the first quarter, he went to the locker room with an injury before returning late in the second. After getting back, he had a reception for 18 yards before halftime.
In the second half, Burden resumed his work. As Drinkwitz said before the game, the Tigers figured out ways to get him the ball.
He got more chances in the passing game and on punt returns, but also was used as a decoy at times. In the second half, he took a direct snap, then threw it back to quarterback Brady Cook, who hit Dominic Lovett down the field for a big gain.
Defensive effort
Missouri’s defensive performance in the first half was spotty in places. The Tigers held ACU to three points, but tackling looked suspect throughout.
MU had trouble stopping the run in the half, with the Wildcats averaging 4.5 yards per carry. ACU was also able to pick up some chunk yardage.
At one point, after an ill-advised ACU fair catch inside its own 1-yard line, Missouri allowed the Wildcats to drive down the field and kick a field goal.
The second half started out better for the Tigers. Ennis Rakestraw made an athletic, one-handed interception for a turnover. Then, Chad Bailey both forced and recovered a fumble for another takeaway.
The Tigers were solid on third downs, forcing punts on most of ACU's drives. The tackling also improved as the game went along.
Inconsistent offense
Despite a few big plays making the score look better, Missouri’s offense did not have a good first half. The offensive line struggled mightily against the Football Championship Subdivision opponent, and the Tigers averaged only 2.7 yards per carry in the first half.
Missouri also struggled to keep drives going, converting only one out of six third downs in the first two quarters. The main bright spot came in the second quarter when Cook connected on a deep pass, something the Tigers have struggled with so far in 2022.
Cook found an open Lovett down the field and Missouri got its second touchdown, a 79-yard effort. Lovett would continue to have a solid game, catching another deep pass from Cook, who got the ball on the aforementioned throwback from Burden.
Lovett also scored a 13-yard touchdown on a pass over the middle from Cook.
The second half was a continued inconsistent effort for the Tigers. They continued to be hamstrung by holding penalties and offensive line struggles.
Abilene Christian managed a defensive touchdown when pressure got to Cook in the end zone as he attempted to throw, leading to a fumble that the Wildcats recovered.
Despite some of the struggles, the Tigers did make some of the explosive plays that were missing in the early going this season. That could be an encouraging sign going forward, so long as MU can be more consistent and not rely on the big plays as much.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football: 3 takeaways from Abilene Christian game final score
