(Photo Credit: Raj Mehta- USA Today Sports)
The Missouri Tigers offense was at it again Saturday as they defeated the Toledo Rockets 49-24 and are now ranked 20th according to the Associated Press poll.
It was a homecoming of sorts for Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel and Tiger quarterback Maty Mauk. Both are Ohio natives and Pinkel is the all-time winningest coach at Toledo with a record of 73-37-3 over 10 seasons.
And it was Mauk, who was the star of the day as he threw for five touchdowns on 325 yards passing. This was the second time he has accomplished such a feat in his short career, the last time being at Kentucky a season ago.
Russell Hansbrough started the scoring off with a 16-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter to put the Tigers up 7-0. Kareem Hunt responded putting the Rockets on the board minutes later when he scrambled for a 38-yard run to tie the game up at 7-7.
With less than three minutes to play in the first Mauk connected with red shirt senior wide receiver Darius White on a 7-yard fade route to give Missouri a 14-7 advantage. Mauk’s lone mistake came towards the end of the first quarter when Toledo’s Jordan Haden picked off a pass intended for Bud Sasser. However, following the interception Sasser was able to force Haden to fumble and Missouri recovered.
The Tigers added a pair of touchdowns in the second to extend their lead by three touchdowns to 28-7. The first Tiger scoring drive started after Missouri defensive back Aarion Penton picked off Phillip Ely’s pass to set up the Tigers in good field position. Mauk capped off the drive with a one-yard rush to push the Tiger lead to 21-7. Then with less than seven minutes to play in the half Mauk tossed a 13-yard flare to wide out Jimmie Hunt extending the Missouri lead to 28-7 heading into halftime.
Coming out of halftime the Tiger defense forced a quick three an out before capitalizing on their next drive. Mauk led a 13-play drive down the field, which ended with him finding Marcus Murphy for the score to stretch the Missouri lead to 35-7.
At this point the Rocket fans began to head for the exits, but those that remained were rewarded. Toledo scored on the ensuing drive when Hunt rushed into the end zone for his second score of the game bringing the deficit back within three touchdowns, with the score at 35-14. Then after the Rockets forced a turnover Hunt found the end zone for the third time on the day closing the gap once more with the score 35-21.
Though as I said before it was Mauk, who was the real star of the game. He answered the bell the very next drive as he found Sasser twice for 73-yards and a touchdown and once again extended the Tiger lead to 42-21.
The fourth quarter was relatively uneventful with the exception of Mauk’s fifth touchdown pass on the day as he found Hunt for the second time to give the Tigers a 49-21 advantage. The Rockets added a field goal late, but ultimately it was the Tiger offense doing the damage as Missouri defeated Toledo 49-24.
The Missouri offense came out strong once again Saturday and it was good to see them using the deep ball. While Mauk is certainly erratic at times with his passing, he has the luxury of having a tall crop of receivers to go up and get the ball. I was pleased to see the Tigers perform well on the road in a hostile environment. The Toledo fans came in masses equipped with vuvuzelas in what was certainly their biggest game of the year.
Despite what people have being saying about these “cupcake” games where ranked teams play unranked schools, a lot of the times these teams prove to be tougher than people actually think. Toledo’s Kareem Hunt is one of the most underrated running backs out there. If grades hadn’t been an issue for him coming out of high school he surely would be a Division-1 back. Though having said that Missouri should continue to win these games if they want to have any chance of making a run similar to last years.
And in order to do that the run game will have to carry more of a load and the defensive line has to pressure the quarterback more if they want to stand a chance against these tougher SEC opponents. Even still, the most important aspect Missouri needs to improve on is stopping the run. Similarly to last year when Tre Mason dismantled them in the bowl game the Tigers will have their hands full come the sixth game of the season when Todd Gurley comes to Columbia. Gurley is single handedly the best running back in the NCAA right now and is a true Heisman candidate. (Look out for that to be ESPN Gameday eligible if Georgia and Missouri are each 5-0) But for now the Tigers need to take it one week at a time and not overlook next week’s opponent.
The Tigers are next in action Saturday September 13th at home against the University of Central Florida. The Knights are 0-1 on the season after losing 26-24 to Penn State in their opener.
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