Mizzou football coach Eli Drinkwitz speaks with the media on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, after a win over Murray State. (Video by Mizzou Network, used with permission of Mizzou Athletics)
COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥 According to one of his players, new Tigers defensive coordinator Corey Batoon is mellow and quiet.
The first impression of his defense in No. 11 Missouri鈥檚 season-opening home win against Murray State on Thursday night would best be described as harsh and loud 鈥 in the most encouraging ways.
鈥淐orey Batoon,鈥 Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz said, 鈥淚 can鈥檛 say how good of a job he did tonight.鈥
Rule: You don鈥檛 read too much into blowout season-opening home wins against overmatched FCS opponents. Handling Murray State, like Mizzou did in a 51-0 romp, is what a top-10 team should do. And Mizzou should be a top-10 team, upgraded from No. 11, when the next Associated Press Top-25 drops.
Mizzou took care of business. Move along. But . . . before we go . . . even with the proper context in mind . . . can we take just a second to say that was a pretty encouraging performance from Batoon and the transfer-bolstered unit he now leads?
Because this bunch lost some serious talent to graduation and the NFL Draft, and at all levels: up front, in the middle and in the secondary. It said goodbye to beloved ex-coordinator Blake Baker to LSU over a minor difference in dollars and a belief, perhaps a misconstrued one, that LSU could better prepare Baker to secure a head coaching gig. Let鈥檚 face it. Had Batoon鈥檚 defense struggled even a little in this game, folks would be worried, right?
There was no struggle Thursday. There was domination. Lots of it. From start to finish. From starters to backups.
Let鈥檚 review . . .
Batoon鈥檚 defense stuffed an ill-advised fourth-down conversion attempt aggressive (and perhaps overexcited) first-year Murray State coach Jody Wright called on his first drive despite having a yard to go on his own 34-yard line. The Racers tried a quick-snap quarterback run straight up the gut. Jayden Johannsen was snuffed immediately by a mass of Mizzou. The Tigers were ready, the opposite of fooled. Drinkwitz felt like it set the tone of the game, and I agree. By then Murray State already had tried a game-opening onside kick and didn鈥檛 recover it. This was their second surprise sneak attack that flopped. There would be no magic coming the Racers鈥 way.
If the Racers didn鈥檛 know after the stuffed fourth-down fizzle that they were in for a long night, they knew it when new Tigers corner Toriano Pride Jr., the St. Louis native who transferred in from Clemson, turned Mizzou鈥檚 14-point first-quarter lead into three-touchdown advantage when he jumped a route, high-pointed a Johannsen pass with two hands, then switched the ball to one hand so he could stiff-arm the intended Murray State receiver away from him before high-stepping 25 yards for a touchdown.
Pride played but rarely started at Clemson. He now has as many interceptions here as he did there. Did Dabo Swinney know what this young man could do? He looked more like a receiver than a defensive back on the pick-six. He looked like an NFL corner when he physically fought off attempts to block him from coming up to help stop plays.
And Pride wasn鈥檛 the only new transfer to get off to a hot start.
New Tigers defensive lineman Chris McClellan, who played here last season as a Florida Gator, bull-rushed his way to a third-quarter sack and strip, freeing up a fumble for teammate Joe Moore. McClellan also was instrumental in the early fourth-down stop and deflected a pass.
鈥淗onestly, I saw a break down in protection,鈥 McClellan said of his strip-sack. 鈥淚 saw some miscommunication between the guard and the center right there. I saw the space, and I took it.鈥
New Tigers linebacker Corey Flagg Jr., who came out of the transfer portal via Miami, hustled his way to a team-high five tackles. Fellow transfer linebacker Khalil Jacobs, who followed Batoon from South Alabama, flew around and scored a sack.
When Batoon subbed out his starters in mass to get backups reps with Mizzou leading 45-0 with a little more than seven minutes left in the third quarter, the starters had held Murray State to just 35 total yards (15 passing, 20 rushing).
Even with the starters being mass-subbed that early, Mizzou still finished the game having held Murray State to averages of 3.9 yards per completion and 1.7 yards per rush. The Racers totaled only five first downs on 50 offensive plays. They succeeded on only four of 15 third-down conversion attempts and never once reached the red zone. Starters complimented how depth players held up the shutout after they exited. 鈥淚t set the tone for how we are able to play and how we want to play the rest of the season,鈥 McClellan said.
This was Mizzou鈥檚 first shutout since it blanked Vanderbilt in 2020. It was the first time since 2019 the defense held a team to less than 100 yards of total offense.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always a good feeling when you鈥檙e holding an offense to 100 yards,鈥 Flagg said, giving Murray State 25 more total yards than the 85 they actually had. 鈥淏ut we鈥檝e got to flip the page.鈥
Well said following a very loud introduction from the Tigers鈥 mellow, quiet DC.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a way to utilize the most speed and also versatility that we can get on the field 鈥 also with our pass rush,鈥 Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said.
Mizzou cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. returns an interception 25 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter of a game against Murray State on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, at Faurot Field.
Mizzou linebacker Khalil Jacobs (29) celebrates a sacking Murray State Racers quarterback Jayden Johannsen (7) in the first quarter action in the Tigers鈥 season opener on Thursday, Aug. 29, at Faurot Field.