Mizzou football grades: Analysis from Missouri Tigers’ Game 4 win against Memphis

A neutral-site game wasn’t really that for Missouri. Plenty of Mizzou fans lined the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis on Saturday.

The Tigers? They showed up with a 34-27 win over Memphis. Missouri is 4-0 heading into a game at Vanderbilt next week.

Here are our postgame grades from Missouri’s win over Memphis in St. Louis, which featured plenty of offensive highlights...

Mizzou quarterback Brady Cook

Cook’s homecoming was splendid. He had missed just one pass at halftime. He was efficient and he had an obvious chemistry with his receivers.

Cook eclipsed 300 yards passing for the second time in his career and for the second game in a row. It was an inspired performance by Cook, who was still hobbled from his knee injury against Kansas State.

What was inspiring was his deep ball, which connected with Luther Burden often and with Marquis Johnson for Johnson’s first career touchdown.

Grade: A

Missouri Tigers offensive line

It wasn’t great. It wasn’t bad, either.

The Tigers’ offensive line allowed two sacks and a quarterback hurry. Memphis also had seven tackles for loss. The adjustments from the first half to the second, however, made the performances night and day.

It took three quarters, but the line did open up options in the running game. That was a boon for the Tigers, which used that rushing attack to push a fourth-quarter lead further out.

Grade: C

Missouri football secondary

The strength of the defense came to play in St. Louis.

Missouri’s defense had one forced turnover all season long. That came last week against Kansas State. The Tigers’ defense doubled that total with two interceptions against Memphis.

Kris Abrams-Draine got his second of the season, and Marcus Clark got his first.

A few tackling and coverage issues throughout the game prevent the grade from being an A. However, you can’t argue with what was a solid day by the Tigers’ secondary.

Grade: B+

Mizzou wide receiver Luther Burden

In his return to his hometown, Burden didn’t disappoint. He had over 100 yards at halftime and was virtually open the entire game.

Memphis struggled to defend him, but every team Missouri played has.

Burden looked impossible to tackle. He was shifty and strong at the same time. He finished the game with 177 receiving yards on 10 receptions.

Grade: A

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