Missouri Football: Tigers blasted by Auburn, 51-14

The season that seemed so winnable in the preseason, continued its march into the abyss, as Missouri fell to Auburn, 51-14.

In the preseason, given Missouri’s offensive prowess, I figured the Tigers had the ability to pull off an upset win against Auburn. The defense, we knew, wouldn’t be at that level, but the offense has – or had some weapons.

Then of course, the season began, and we saw a good sample of what the defense would be, and an offense that looked good, but hadn’t played the caliber of opponent that it would face after Missouri State.

For next week’s road game at Kentucky, I predicted the Tigers to secure a win in Lexington. Given the state of the season so far, I’m sure I’ll be off base on that one as well.

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Looking at this team’s performance against Auburn, there is a disconnect between the coaching staff and team, as well as disconnect among players. The mental errors that translated into penalties were gut wrenching.

Even taking away all of the penalties, Missouri would have lost still, but at least it would have shown that the Tigers were making progress in an important area which would give Missouri a building point.

For all of the Tigers’ miscues on offense, they did manage to put 14 points on the board; a touchdown by running back Damarea Crockett in the first half, and then a score by wide receiver J’Mon Moore to close out the game.

The lone highlight that I enjoyed, was a couple of solid carries by running back Larry Rountree, and a catch by receiver Johnathon Johnson in the opening drive.

Finding the faults in this team is not a hard task; anyone can see where the many problems lie. Since it seems that the coaching staff will remain intact for the remainder of the season, we might as well try to find some positives, even if they are few at times.

Next: SEC releases 2018 football schedule

On two unrelated notes, kansas, with a matching record, is no better than Missouri. For anyone who is waiting out the season for the Tigers’ opening tip-off in basketball, only have 39 days to go.