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Mizzou football: Tigers take down Redhawks in shutout victory

By Thomas Huitt-Johnson

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI - SEPTEMBER 14: Tight end Albert Okwuegbunam #81 of the Missouri Tigers celebrates his touchdown catch with wide receiver Jonathan Nance #4 during the first half against the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks at Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, MISSOURI - SEPTEMBER 14: Tight end Albert Okwuegbunam #81 of the Missouri Tigers celebrates his touchdown catch with wide receiver Jonathan Nance #4 during the first half against the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks at Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /
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The Mizzou football team found several ways to score a touchdown against SEMO.

It didn’t take long for Mizzou football to find different ways to get into the end zone.

Mizzou scored on a rush, an interception, a pass and a punt return to give itself a 27-0 first-quarter lead. With that, Mizzou became the first Power 5 team to score in such ways since Mizzou did it against Vanderbilt in 2017. That helped lead the Tigers to a 50-0 victory in their 500th home game.

The Tigers did exactly what they wanted to do Saturday night against in-state opponent SEMO.

Mizzou played balanced football on offense and halted all of the SEMO drives as the defense continues to improve since its Week 1 showing. The Tigers had 242 passing yards and 259 rushing yards. They held their opponents to 94 yards total.

Now, the Tigers head into a conference showdown for the first time this year, a Week 4 matchup against South Carolina.

Mizzou will be doing so at a good time, as Kelly Bryant seems confident going down field and Mizzou’s defense is better at stopping the run.

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On Saturday, Bryant connected with two bombs to wide receiver Jalen Knox. Those set up easy touchdowns for tight end Albert Okwuegbunam and running back Larry Rountree III.

The defense has been opportunistic, something it was not in Week 1 in Laramie. Cale Garrett’s pick-six was the second week in a row in which a Tigers linebacker grabbed an interception and took it in for the score. Nick Bolton did against West Virginia last week.

The special teams also looks solid for the Tigers. Tucker McCann missed on an extra point but made up for it with three field goals, including a 52-yarder to mark the final score. Richaud Floyd took a 71-yard punt return to the end zone, and hopefully he’ll be able to do that another time or two this season.

McCann’s punting looked great, too. McCann had two punts go inside the 20, and had a 62-yarder.

It’s safe to say Mizzou has improved since its first game. The Tigers dominated Power 5 West Virginia 38-7 last week and shut out an FCS-ranked opponent Saturday, and fixed some issues they had after taking a 27-0 lead.

The Tigers didn’t score on three-straight possessions, and Bryant threw a pick midway through the second quarter. But they came back and scored twice to wrap up the first half ahead 37-0.

Not that it would have ended in the same way, but remember, the Tigers didn’t respond well when things didn’t go right against Wyoming, so it’s a plus that they didn’t show those same signs against SEMO.

Missouri was able to get several young players and backups into the game Saturday. That was nice to see as the Tigers head into tougher completion along the way.

Mizzou football gets the 3 p.m. kickoff slot next week on SEC Network against the Gamecocks.

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