Mizzou football head coach Eli Drinkwitz gives his opening statement on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, after a win over Boston College in Columbia, Mo. (Video by Mizzou Network, used with permission of Mizzou Athletics)
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri almost got got, and in that, it got what it wanted.
Trailing No. 24 Boston College 14-6 in the second quarter of Saturday’s game, the No. 6 Tigers were in risky territory.
After not allowing a point in its first two games this season, Mizzou’s defense had given up a couple of scores to the Eagles and dynamic quarterback Thomas Castellanos. A key penalty fueled one BC scoring drive while coverage more busted than too-tight skinny jeans gifted the visitors another touchdown.
MU’s offense, meanwhile, had started in pedestrian fashion, settling for a pair of field goals while struggling to consistently complete the passes it craved.
Tre’Vez Johnson, one of the defensive backs who rotates through the safety position, prowled the sideline.
“Just don’t flinch,†he told his teammates, a phrase that trickled along the benches between Faurot Field’s 20-yard lines.
With 4:20 before halftime, Johnson snared an underthrown pass from Castellanos for an interception, returning it to the Eagles’ 25-yard line.
A short field was just what Missouri’s offense needed. On its third play after the pick, wideout Luther Burden III cooked four BC defenders while breezing into the end zone.
His touchdown, set up by Johnson’s interception, was the first of a string of 24 unanswered points that Mizzou (3-0) scored in the middle of a 27-21 victory over Boston College (2-1) — a result that the Tigers think was mostly about their ability to respond to trying circumstances.
“Today was not pretty, was not our best performance, top to bottom — but (we) really responded,†coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “We hadn’t been challenged all year, and (I) was concerned, with so many new faces, what that response would be. Today, I think you saw a team that’s committed to each other, a team that responds, a team that’s never out of the fight.â€
Drinkwitz made the call to go for a 2-point conversion after Burden’s score to tie the game 14-14 in the second quarter, which proved prudent when running back Nate Noel took a shotgun snap himself and powered across the goal line.
“That could get ugly real fast, so for us to turn it around and (the) defense to get a stop and us go score right after that, that’s good for heading into the rest of the season,†Burden said.
He and Noel were the offensive standouts from Saturday’s game.
Noel ran the ball 22 times for 121 yards, including four carries of 13 or more yards. Burden caught six passes for 117 yards and a receiving score, creating plenty with the ball in his hands — namely 74 yards after the catch.
The preseason All-American wideout’s performance mirrored the offense at large: It wasn’t until he started getting touches that the Tigers really started moving the chains. But Burden wasn’t surprised at how MU settled in.
“I knew we were gonna keep swinging no matter what,†he said.
Kicker Blake Craig — “the difference†in the game, Drinkwitz said — shot a booming 56-yard field goal through the uprights just before halftime, the longest kick of his young career. That gave Missouri a 17-14 lead heading back into the locker room, an advantage it wouldn’t relinquish.
Back inside quieter confines, the Tigers’ coach emphasized the importance of winning the game’s “swing eight†minutes — the four minutes on either side of halftime. Receiving the ball to start the second half, Mizzou’s players executed on his challenge.
Another Burden catch produced 36 yards of man-made magic and set up a rushing touchdown for quarterback Brady Cook to go up 24-14.
The score came 4½ minutes into the third quarter, so not precisely within the swing eight minutes. But if Drinkwitz expanded his emphasis to a swing 10, that span saw the Tigers score 21 points.
A late-game blown coverage allowed Boston College to re-enter one-score territory and briefly threaten the Tigers, but MU’s offense controlled the ball to ice the game in the fourth quarter. Forced to throw on a third down to keep possession, Cook found Burden for a short but vital completion that set up an opportunity to drain the clock.
There were lessons throughout the game that will come up on the practice field for Missouri — namely regarding pass coverage, which produced both two interceptions and two catastrophic collapses. But there was a more intrinsic takeaway from the MU sideline, too.
“For us to have to face some adversity and then figure out who we are, who we can count on, what are you going to do when your back’s against the wall and you’re tired?†Drinkwitz said. “I think that was really important.â€
The combat analogies weren’t just coming from the coach, either.
“We’ve been through situations in spring, fall camp with each other,†Noel said. “We already knew what we had. But to do it against another team, to go up backs against the wall and nobody flinched, that just shows we really bought in.â€
Winning against a ranked and clearly talented Boston College side helps Mizzou’s stature in a bigger-picture sense, too. While dominant results in the first two games of the year were enough to keep the Tigers undefeated and moving upward in polls, those results hadn’t done much to establish Missouri’s place in the national college football psyche.
ESPN’s “College GameDay†pregame show, for instance, traveled to Columbia, South Carolina, this weekend instead of Columbia, Missouri, picking a matchup between Louisiana State and South Carolina over Saturday’s only duel between ranked teams.
“To me, it’s disrespect,†Burden said, “not to have us on the big stage with the big TV cameras. I took that personal. I’m pretty sure everybody else in that locker room took it personal. We ain’t going nowhere. We’re here to stay.â€
Mizzou football head coach Eli Drinkwitz gives his opening statement on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, after a win over Boston College in Columbia,…
Missouri quarterback Brady Cook, left, jumps over Boston College cornerback Amari Jackson as Jamal Roberts, right, blocks in the second half on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Columbia, Mo. Cook scored on the play.
Missouri’s Luther Burden III, left, runs past Boston College’s Quintayvious Hutchins, right, in the second half on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Columbia, Mo.
Missouri safety Tre'Vez Johnson celebrates after intercepting a pass in the first half of thee Tigers' victory over Boston College on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Columbia, Mo.Â