The Missouri Tigers, looking pitiful on defense, fought well enough to pull out the win at Purdue on Saturday night, in a nail-biting 40-37 victory.
After their win over Purdue, the Missouri Tigers’ offense of 2018 looked more organized than its 2017 version. Quarterback Drew Lock has made strides in becoming more accurate and shows better decision making abilities than he did in previous years.
Lock’s Heisman candidacy seemed like it might take a direct hit last night, when the Tigers allowed their lead to slip away. However, with a little help from Purdue making a costly error in the closing minutes of the game, the Tigers were given new life with a first down from a penalty on the Boilermakers.
The last two minutes of that game had to be one of the finest two minute drills I’ve seen executed in a long time, which ended with a win on Tucker McCann’s closing seconds field goal. From the execution of plays and clock management, I was duly impressed by the improvements shown by Missouri since last year.
More from Truman's Tales
- Believe it or not, Missouri football has never played these FBS teams
- Missouri Tigers all-time round-by-round NCAA tournament record
- March Madness schedule: When do the Missouri Tigers play next? (Updated Round of 64)
- The Missouri Tigers Kansas Jayhawks Border War Renews
- Marching Mizzou Marches into the Big Apple
After last night’s win, the Tigers remain undefeated, 3-0. Next for Mizzou will be its first conference matchup against the Georgia Bulldogs, a team which the Tigers held in check for a good three quarters a year ago.
The fan in me wants to see Mizzou pull the upset win over the ‘Dawgs, but given the Tigers’ sloppy performance on defense Saturday night, I don’t think a win is anything more than the proverbial “pipe dream.”
More on that prediction later this week. For now, it’s nice to see the Tigers succeeding on offense, and hopefully the defense will show more ability to protect the Tigers’ side of the field in the coming weeks.
So far on the season. I am 2-1 on my picks for Missouri. I had the Tigers penciled-in for an L in Saturdays’ tilt at Purdue, but was happily proven wrong. I’ll take “disappointments” like that all season.