At 7-1, the Missouri Tigers are headed for a strong bowl game ... and maybe more?

Missouri football ground up South Carolina with six sacks and finished off Saturday’s win with a rumbling run game.

The MU Tigers defeated South Carolina 34-12, and the contest was never much in doubt.

Here are seven thoughts on the Tigers’ homecoming win over South Carolina, starting with this:

At 7-1, Missouri is on the cusp of national relevance

How many people picked Missouri to finish below .500?

Six of CBS Sports’ eight college football writers picked Missouri to finish sixth in the SEC East. FOX Sports predicted a sixth-place finish, too. The Athletic put the Tigers in Tier 4 of SEC teams, alongside Mississippi State, South Carolina and Arkansas.

That’s clearly not the case anymore. Not even close.

Missouri has played itself onto the doorstep of national relevance at 7-1. We’re past the idea that Missouri football has become fun again.

It’s been that way since the win over Kansas State. But having a fun team does not equal relevancy. Just ask Dan Mullen’s Florida teams that flirted with top-10 rankings but could never leap Alabama.

The Tigers are No. 16 in both the AP and Coaches Polls. They are firmly in the discussion for one of the SEC’s premier bowl games.

Sitting at 7-1 puts Missouri on a launching pad with the launch button in front of them. That’s No. 1 Georgia on Nov. 4.

“Our seniors have been focused on a 1-0 mentality,” coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “We need to beat the bye week. We need to make sure we rest up, and we need to recover. And then we’ll figure out what we’ve got to do in November.”

What should Missouri football circle on its calendar?

Right now, there are three dates to circle for MU.

• Nov. 4 at Georgia

• Nov. 11 vs. Tennessee

• Nov. 18 vs. Florida

Those are three games against teams with winning records, two of which are ranked in No. 1 Georgia and No. 21 Tennessee.

Obviously, beating Georgia would have massive implications for this team. It would even launch Missouri back into the conversation for the College Football Playoff.

If MU falls to UGA, beating Tennessee would put Missouri back into the New Year’s Six conversation. That would mean Missouri is 3-2 in games against ranked teams. That’s a solid resume, especially if upsets snare Alabama and LSU down the line.

Florida is senior night, which would also be a chance for Missouri to clinch a top-three spot in the SEC East, at most.

That’s a challenging November. But Missouri gets a chance to punctuate its regular season against a dreadful Arkansas team.

Arkansas is proof of why it was important for Missouri to nail its OC hire

Dan Enos is out in Fayetteville amidst the Hogs’ six-game losing streak. The Razorbacks haven’t scored more than 22 points since a Week 4 loss to LSU.

Enos was hired from Maryland to replace Kendal Briles and had plenty in place to be successful. Quarterback KJ Jefferson returned when he could’ve grad transferred anywhere in America, and Raheim Sanders is as good as they come in terms of running backs.

Enos’ tenure bottomed out with a three-point afternoon in a 7-3 loss to Mississippi State.

Missouri made an offensive coordinator hire this past offseason, too. I’d say it’s worked out pretty well so far.

Drinkwitz nailed the Kirby Moore hire. He has the Tigers’ offense humming, scoring over 30 points in six games this season, which is all but one game. Last year, MU scored 30-plus in just three games.

Missouri needed to strike gold with its offensive coordinator hire, and it did. You can see what getting it wrong looks like.

If the pass rush keeps playing like this, MU should enjoy November

Six sacks, eight tackles for loss and four quarterback hurries on Saturday were the story for the defense.

Four of the six sacks were on third down, which ended four South Carolina drives. Drinkwitz knows there should have been more, but a six-sack day is plenty impressive.

“The rush goes hand in hand with the coverage and the coverage goes hand in hand with the linebackers,” defensive lineman Kristian Williams said. “It is just a trickle-down effect that everybody just has to click in and hold everyone accountable. ... Because (if) one person (misses) their job, it just messes (up) the whole defense.”

So far, the defense has done that job pretty well.

If Missouri can keep that consistent pressure on, then its defense should be playing at a high level.

Williams is right, the three phases of the defense — the pass rush, linebackers and coverage — all affect each other, but the pass rush is where the play starts. The defensive line has the opportunity to end a play before it begins.

MU has 25 sacks in eight games, good for just over three sacks per game. If that continues or gets better, then Missouri should have a chance to contain every offense in every game in November.

Mookie Cooper is becoming the next Barrett Banister

When Missouri needed a positive play, it turned to one of its experienced receivers.

It wasn’t Luther Burden. It wasn’t Theo Wease. It was Mookie Cooper, who is quietly turning in a career season.

Don’t be mistaken, though. Cooper’s success has played a big part in why Missouri’s offense has been successful.

This season, Cooper has caught 28 passes for 359 yards. Those are career-highs in both categories. His success might be overshadowed by the success of players like Burden, Cook and Schrader, but make no mistake of how important he actually is for this team.

When I asked Drinkwitz about the role Cooper has carved out for himself, he said “Coooop” slyly as I finished my question.

“(He) doesn’t worry about stats, noise, Twitter, just goes to work, does his job, is reliable,” Drinkwitz said. “Every time he catches the ball, he (gets) another 5 yards. I mean, the first guy’s not tackling him. Really, really proud of Mookie. And I know his mom’s really proud of him, too.”

Cooper led MU in receptions on Saturday. Of those six catches, four went for first downs. In fact, 21 of Cooper’s 28 receptions have gone for first downs this season.

A Missouri receiver that’s dependable in getting the Tigers first downs when they need it? Sounds like Barrett Banister, right?

“No, he’s Mookie Cooper,” Drinkwitz said. “Yeah, he’s Mookie Cooper.”

After all that, Missouri really does need this week off

Phew.

A 7-1 start. The Tigers have a quarterback, a superstar receiver and a dominant defense. Plus, No. 1 Georgia is next.

But this week, the Tigers are off. Man, did they need it.

Missouri’s injury report ahead of Saturday’s game was:

PROBABLE

Brady Cook

Tre’Vez Johnson

Josh Landry

Darius Robinson

QUESTIONABLE

Cody Schrader

Ennis Rakestraw Jr.

OUT

Chad Bailey

Peanut Houston

That’s a lengthy list.

Schrader and Rakestraw played, but Rakestraw was limited in the win. A week off will do Rakestraw well, especially as he missed the Kentucky game, although his social media commentary on the win over UK was phenomenal.

Schrader, who has been MU’s running game star this season, definitely needs it. He’s almost missed the last few games. Getting healthy is an objective this week for MU, and luckily that doesn’t require a lengthy scouting report.

“I’m so excited,” Schrader said about the open week. “I love the game of football, but I think we’ve had, what was it, 12 consecutive weeks since fall camp, so I know we’re definitely gonna enjoy this bye week.”

Let’s start bowl projection season: Where could the Tigers be?

Heading into the open date, Missouri is bowl-eligible and will have a chance to improve its standing for a late-December bowl game or, with a few big wins, a New Year’s Six bowl.

Here’s where Missouri is currently projected to land, according to a few national sports writers.

247Sports’ Brad Crawford: Duke’s Mayo Bowl, Missouri vs. Clemson

ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura: AutoZone Liberty Bowl, Iowa State vs. Missouri

Athlon Sports’ Steven Lassan: Music City Bowl, Maryland vs. Missouri

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach: AutoZone Liberty Bowl, West Virginia vs. Missouri

Of these four projections, the Mayo Bowl matchup with Clemson would be my favorite. I have no idea what happened to Dabo Swinney and his Tigers, but that team has cratered from what we’ve come to know; they were one of just three teams that felt like they could win the College Football Playoff each year.

The Liberty Bowl would be travel-friendly for MU fans in Memphis. It would also be friendly for Missouri’s defense in one case. The Iowa State offense averages 23 points per game, which ranks 101st of 133 FBS teams.

Taking on Maryland in the Music City Bowl would be fun, too. Drinkwitz would finally get to play in the Music City Bowl that he missed out on in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Either way, these discussions are about to pick up. Get ready for much more of this.

The Star has partnered with the Columbia Daily Tribune for coverage of Missouri Tigers athletics.