Missouri Tigers: Key Takeaways From Mizzou’s Black and Gold Spring Game

On Saturday, the Missouri Tigers played their Black & Gold Spring Game. Here are a few key takeaways.

The Missouri Tigers kicked off their college football campaign in style when the 2022 Mizzou Black & Gold Spring Game took place on Saturday, March 19 at Faurot Field. Team Mizzou (black) beat Team Tigers (gold) 35-34 on a late-game pick.

Key Takeaways:

Positives:

Young WRs with potential

First thing’s first, the Tigers’ wide receiver room is deep. We’re talking names like Tauskie Dove, Chance Luper, Mookie Cooper, Barrett Banister, Dominic Lovett, and, of course, Luther Burden.

In the first half, Burden was the star of the show. He led the team in receptions and yards between the first two quarters and had insane catches. Luper also had a great first half. He put up a touchdown and a good number of yards, himself.

For Team Tigers, Dominic Lovett was the star of the first half. It honestly seemed like Lovett was the only wide receiver Tyler Macon, Team Tigers’ quarterback, would throw to for the entire first half. Obviously, that isn’t true. He started the game with a tipped ball that ended up becoming a pick-six, but after that miscue, he was near-perfect.

In the second half, Tauskie Dove really showed out. He put up 91 yards on the day. Most of which came after halftime. I can’t say that he’s a “young WR with potential,” because he’s a senior. However, don’t count out Dove as a name you will be hearing a lot for the Tigers this year.

RBs

Another Mizzou corps that is very deep is that of the running back room. Names like Michael Cox, BJ Harris, Taj Butts, and Elijah Young. Then, there’s Stanford transfer, Nathaniel Peat, and Truman State transfer, Cody Schrader. None of these players are particularly young. The youngest are Michael Cox and BJ Harris, both sophomores. However, both transfers are seniors.

That’s not to say that they aren’t still incredibly talented. Do I believe any running back we have this season will put up the numbers that Tyler Badie did? Absolutely not. But Missouri still has the run threat.

Nathaniel Peat, BJ Harris, and Cody Schrader were the most impactful RBs in the game. The most impressive run of the game was Peat’s 23-yard TD run midway through the first quarter. However, there was good running back play through the entire game.

Offensive and Defensive Lines

Both sides had great plays at times. It’s hard to evaluate each individually because they could either both be good or both be bad. But, with so many key defensive linemen and linebackers sitting out of the Spring Game, including Trajan Jeffcoat, Tyrone Hopper, Chad Bailey, and Kris Abrams-Draine, I would lean towards the defensive line being solid and Mizzou needing a bit of help at guard and tackle.

Possible Negatives:

Young QBs with little experience

There are currently three quarterbacks on Missouri’s roster. Brady Cook (So.), Tyler Macon (RFr.), and Tommy Lock (RFr.). Yes, Tommy is Drew Lock’s brother. The title of this section is not to say that the quarterbacks currently rostered aren’t good. Cook and Macon are decent. They’re just inexperienced and that worries me.

Lock did not play in the Spring Game. However, courtesy of Dave Matter’s Twitter page (@Dave_Matter), I have Cook and Macon’s stat lines. Brady Cook went 16/20 for 191 yards, 3 touchdown, and one interception. Tyler Macon went 16/23 for 233 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.

As said above, Macon threw two picks in the game. One went for six in the first quarter and the second sealed the game with 37 seconds left.

Both QBs looked solid, and the competition may be closer than we all anticipated. However, they both have some areas in which they need to improve. It looks like right now, Cook has the slight edge, but things could change a lot over the next 6 months.

Lackluster Secondary

According to the SEC Network+ broadcast, over one dozen defensive players sat out of this game, “Especially on the secondary.” So, how the secondary looked in this game may not be a mirror image of how they will perform come September.

With that being said, the secondary looked tired all game. There were three interceptions in the game, all made by cornerbacks or safeties. However, aside from those plays, the players looked bad. I hope that the defense can show up and show out come fall, but if the Spring Game is any indication, it looks like this will be another bad year for the Tigers’ secondary.

Mizzou Tigers 2022 Football Schedule:

• Sept. 3         Louisiana Tech         Columbia, MO
• Sept. 10       at Kansas State        Manhattan, KS
• Sept. 17       Abilene Christian    Columbia, MO
• Sept. 24       at Auburn                   Auburn, AL
• Oct. 1           Georgia                       Columbia, MO
• Oct. 8            at Florida                   Gainesville, FL
• Oct. 15         BYE
• Oct. 22        Vanderbilt                  Columbia, MO
• Oct. 29        at South Carolina      Columbia, SC
• Nov. 5         Kentucky                     Columbia, MO
• Nov. 12       at Tennessee              Knoxville, TN
• Nov. 19       New Mexico State    Columbia, MO
• Nov. 26       Arkansas                     Columbia, MO