No. 6 Missouri Tigers Finish Strong Against Boston College

© Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The No. 6 Missouri Tigers (3-0) faced off against the No. 24 Boston College Eagles (2-1) on Sept. 14, winning 27-21 in Columbia, Mo. This was an unexpected Top 25 matchup.

Boston College took an early 14-3 lead, but Missouri persevered with strong running and excellent play from Tigers' quarterback Brady Cook. The defense forced turnovers and set up a successful second half.

The Missouri Offense 

On offense, Missouri won at the line of scrimmage. Running back Nate Noel had 22 carries for 121 yards. His performance helped the Tigers' offense stay on point. This was especially during Missouri's comeback in the first half, which opened up the team's passing game.

Preseason First Team All-American Luther Burden III played a significant role in the offensive attack. He caught 6 passes for 117 yards and 1 touchdown, including a 44-yard catch. Cook had an exceptional performance, completing 21-of-30 passes for 264 yards and 1 touchdown. Cook showed patience and NFL-ready decision-making by not forcing plays.

The Tigers Defense 

The Missouri front seven were tested early by Boston College's running game, which forced them to use extra players to plug the line. This allowed Boston College QB Thomas Castellanos to make some big plays in the passing game. After making some adjustments, though, the Tigers' defense, led by linebacker Corey Flagg (4 tackles 1 sack), forced multiple turnovers and stopped the run. Thomas, who is undersized for a QB, had trouble adjusting to the exotic pressures.

The defense was all over the field. It made great tackles, applied tight coverage on the Eagles' wide receivers, and caused 2 interceptions by Trevez Johnson and Dryden Norwood.

Final Thoughts

Last week, Mizzou's special teams were a big question mark, especially kicker Blake Craig, who missed a few attempts. On Sept. 14, he was perfect, going 4-for-4, including a 56-yard field goal. Punter Luke Bauer was steady, too, with two of his three punts landing inside the 20-yard line.

With the Sept. 14 victory, the Tigers improved to 3-0 on the season. This was a hard-fought game in which Missouri had to battle for all four quarters, but this type of game will help it as its schedule gets more and more difficult.