Long runs, Kelly Bryant consistency lead Tigers past Rebels

It wasn’t easy for Mizzou football, but a pair of long touchdown runs and great play from quarterback Kelly Bryant led the Tigers to victory over Ole Miss.

When the Ole Miss Rebels came to town, many fans of Mizzou football were unsure of how their beloved Missouri Tigers would fare in a rare meeting with this SEC West opponent. Ole Miss was 3-3 on the year, but has had shown proficiency on the offensive side of the ball under head coach Matt Luke. Mizzou can sling it too, but would the Tigers bring the defense necessary to win?

The Tigers were able to improve to 5-1 (2-0) on the year by knocking off the Rebels to the tune of 38-27. With both of their SEC East rivals in the Georgia Bulldogs and the Florida Gators falling to conference foes on Saturday, Mizzou finds itself in first place in the division as the only SEC East team without a conference defeat on the campaign. So how did Mizzou get past Ole Miss?

Though they didn’t win the turnover battle, the Missouri offense was slightly more dynamic than Ole Miss’. This was in large part due to two different things: Kelly Bryant outplayed the Ole Miss quarterbacking tandem of John Rhys Plumlee and Matt Corral, as well as getting two huge 40-plus yard touchdown runs from Larry Rountree III and Dawson Downing. That was the difference.

Bryant completed 23 of 35 passes for 329 yards, one touchdown and a pick. He averaged a strong 9.4 yards per pass attempt, and carried the ball 10 times for 14 yards. Keep in mind that he had to exit last week’s home game versus the Troy Trojans on a dirty hit from behind on a touchdown pass. Just coming back from that injury and playing this well was remarkable.

But Bryant couldn’t do it all by himself. He needed a little help from his friends. Fortunately, he was able to get that from his talented tailbacks of Rountree and Dawson. Rountree was a no-doubt bell-cow in this game, as he toted the rock 21 times for 126 yards and two touchdowns, including a long of 41 yards.

Dawson didn’t get the workload of Rountree, but certainly made the most of his six touches out of the Missouri backfield in the ball game. He ran for 70 yards on those six carries, including his unbelievable 54-yard sprint towards pay dirt in the third quarter, the same third quarter that Mizzou dominated Ole Miss, outscoring the Rebels 23-7 in that frame.

Bryant completed passes to nine different Tigers receivers on the evening, while Plumlee and Corral only found six different pass catchers for the Rebels on their combined 18 completions for 236 yards and two touchdowns.

Though Plumlee made it a ball game with his legs, as he rushed for 143 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries, a more balanced Mizzou offensive attack ended up winning. Ole Miss may only be a fringe bowl team this year and while Mizzou still awaits its appeal to the NCAA, the Tigers have put themselves in a position to do big things later in the season if they are eligible.