Mizzou Football: It wasn’t all bad vs Alabama in first game of season

Mizzou football kicked off the Eli Drinkwitz era against the second ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. It ended in a 38-19 loss for the Tigers.

I know moral victories are frowned upon in football, but the Missouri Tigers did the best they could against the second ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in their first game of the season.

Even the most diehard and optimistic Mizzou fans weren’t going to pick the Tigers to win this game. These were two very different teams in two very different places and it showed early on, as Alabama led 28-3 at the half.

Despite the lopsided score, it wasn’t all bad for Missouri in the first game of the Drinkwitz era. There were some things that should give MU fans hope this season and that’s all fans could really ask for heading into what was nearly an impossible game for the Tigers.

Mizzou football might be 0-1, but it wasn’t for lack of effort.

For one, Missouri scored 16 points in the second half and held the Crimson Tide to 10 points, which is impressive given how stacked that team is. Yes, more backups were playing as the games got out of hand, but even Alabama’s backups are starters on most other college teams, so it’s important to note here.

Secondly, Shawn Robinson looked decent in his Mizzou football debut. The former TCU quarterback went 19 of 25 for 185 yards and a touchdown. He wasn’t great, but he outplayed sophomore Connor Bazelak who went just 7 of 14 for 68 yards.

Larry Rountree III had a good first game of the season, carrying the ball 14 times for 67 yards and likely would have been given more opportunities if the Tigers hadn’t found themselves in a 21-0 hole pretty quickly into the game.

Jalen Knox impressed the most in the receiving game, grabbing five catches for 63 yards with a long of 23 yards. He is going to be a name to watch this season for MU.

I mentioned in my pre-game article for this game how the Tigers defense would need to do their best to prevent Najee Harris from having a big game. They kept him under 100 yards rushing (99 yards), but the Crimson Tide running back had three trips into the end zone.

Yes, this was a double digit loss for the Missouri Tigers, but no one was picking them to win. Even still, they made some noise late and did give the fans something to get excited about. They’ll be able to make things interesting against Tennessee next week and LSU (who lost to Mississippi State on Saturday) isn’t the same team they were a year ago, so Mizzou has a chance to rebound for sure.

It was a blowout loss, but it certainly wasn’t all bad for Mizzou football in Eli Drinkwitz’s first game as the head coach for the Tigers.