Mizzou beats Indiana 45-28 Behind Offense

The Tigers got their third victory of the season on Saturday against the Indiana Hoosiers behind the arm of James Franklin and the rest of the Mizzou offense. Franklin threw for 343 yards and two touchdowns, and Dorial Green Beckham caught 100 yards and a touchdown pass. Also, the Tigers ran for 280 yards, 5.6 per attempt, in route to the 45-28 victory. The entire Tiger offense was very impressive and played a near flawless game, discounting the three turnovers in the first half.

The first quarter was filled with action, as the Tigers scored 14 points off of a Franklin touchdown pass and a Marcus Murphy touchdown run. The Tigers also lost three turnovers, all in Hoosier territory, in this quarter. Without those turnovers, the score could have easily been 28-0 after just one quarter. Instead, Indiana hung around, fighting hard to tie the score up at 14 all with 6:31 left in the second quarter. From there, it was all Mizzou, as the Tigers scored two more touchdowns in the quarter. The second was a Kony Ealy interception and 50 yard dash to the end zone, the biggest highlight play of the night.

In the third quarter, both defenses played well, and only three points were scored by the Tigers. The Mizzou defense was aided by a new scheme featuring only three down lineman, and used the scheme very effectively the third quarter. In the fourth, the Tigers put the game away with two more touchdowns, and the celebration was on in Bloomington.

This was a great win for the Tigers on the road, but they still have some tune ups to make before heading into SEC play. The defense might want to experiment more with that three down lineman scheme in the next game against Arkansas State. Also, the offense needs to work on protecting the football and not turning it over. Three turnovers won’t win many ballgames in the SEC.