Instant Thoughts from No. 19 Missouri's Hard-Earned Victory Over Auburn

Four key points from an eventful battle of the Tigers in Columbia, Mo.

Oct 19, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Auburn Tigers quarterback Payton Thorne (1) runs the ball against Missouri Tigers safety Sidney Williams (3) during the first half at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The No. 19 Missouri Tigers, arguably, could not have played an uglier football game against the visiting Auburn Tigers.

Nothing offensively looked in sync, especially after the loss of quarterback Brady Cook in the first quarter. Missouri could not get the ball moving downfield, both on the ground and in the air. They failed to get the ball to its best player and failed to string together chunk plays.

The defensive unit helped out, though they allowed a long touchdown. Only three points were scored by both teams in the first half and Auburn infrequently sniffed the red zone.

Despite the struggles on offense, Cook rejuvinated the team and fanbase with his pinpoint accuracy, bringing the Tigers to a victory.

Here are four takeaways from Missouri's 21-17 victory over the Auburn Tigers.

Defense Stands Strong

It was very clear that heading into its matchup with the visiting Auburn Tigers, Missouri's Cook-led offense was not completely clicking. That proved to be the case in the first half, opening a red zone-entering drive with only three points and failing to convert in other red-zone situations later on.

Luckily for the Missouri offense, the opposite side of the ball was firing on all cylinders. Death Row Defense did not allow a single score in the first quarter and only let up one first down to the Auburn offense. They allowed only 128 total yards in the first half and 286 the entire game, most of which came on the ground.

Missouri also forced one turnover in the game, one of which saved a potential drive from the other side. Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne bumped into one of his own linemen jarring the ball loose, allowing cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. to scoop it up.

In multiple situations throughout the entirety of the game, the Missouri defensive unit came up clutch. In a game where the Missouri offense, led after the first quarter by backup quarterback Drew Pyne, lacked rhythm and consistency all game, the defense was relied upon to keep points off the board.

Burden Nonexistent in First Half

Burden only finished with two receptions for 11 yards in the opening half. Regardless of the situation at the quarterback spot, which was in flux the entire first half, not getting Burden involved in any way is not a recipe for success.

Missouri's star receiver saw only three targets in the half as well. Nationally viewed as one of the best receivers in all of college football, only looking for arguably the best player on your team three times does not set Burden, or the offense, up for success.

Getting Burden involved in the second half was going to be important from the get-go. The Pyne-led offense didn't get that opportunity until around four minutes into the third quarter and connected with Burden twice. Both were gains of five yards or less. Even if the coverage on Burden was tight early on and as the game progressed, there were different ways to get him involved, many of which were not utilized.

Injuries Everywhere

The amount of dings and injuries seen in this game was enough to disrupt the rhythm of the game for both teams. Missouri saw multiple of its best players go down in important parts of the game, impacting the team performance and again, the rhythm.

When Cook went down at the quarterback spot early in the first quarter after tweaking his ankle, the offense as a whole lost all of its flow. Pyne could not string together pass after pass and struggled to get the ball to the boundary, an area in which Missouri's receivers excel. Pyne finished with 78 yards, going 10-for-21 on the day before returning to the sideline.

Starting running back Nate Noel was out for a brief amount of time and his presence was missed. The Tigers were forced to put in freshman Kewan Lacy and Jamal Roberts and saw a dead area in the run game without Noel's production.

Defensive end Zion Young appeared to be injured but quickly got back up, another loss the Tigers could not take. For Auburn, Thorne took a very hard hit and was rattled on the field. He only took one play on the sideline and re-entered the game shortly after. The amount of injuries and stoppages put an interesting pace into the game.

Offensive Rhythm

The lack of rhythm with Pyne in the game on offense can not be overstated. Simple throws were missed and positive drives were stalled on multiple occassions. Only three points were scored with Pyne at the quarterback spot, though he reached scoring territory multiple times. One of those resulted in a miscue and a fumble.

To the surprise of many, an injured Cook re-entered the game at the end of the third quarter. He came out swinging with two incomplete passes down the field, leaving a big third-down conversion in front of him. His 78-yard completion to receiver Mookie Cooper not only moved the Tigers down the field but ignited Faurot Field. It resulted in an ever-so-important touchdown as well, at the hands of Marcus Carroll.

Cook's long completion to Cooper was the longest play of the game for the Tigers by a long shot and without it, they have no chance of getting back into the game. Cook had receivers open on its next offensive possession but didn't have time to hit them, getting sacked twice. That rhythm and fluidity established by the big pass aided for the remainder of the game, keeping Missouri in it.

The starting quarterback's efforts in the fourth quarter rallied Missouri back into the ballgame and gave them a chance to win, which they took advantage of.