Mizzou football grades: Analysis of Missouri Tigers’ Cotton Bowl win against Ohio State

For the first time since 2015, the Missouri Tigers football team has won a bowl game.

For the first time since the inception of the College Football Playoff, the Missouri Tigers football team has won a New Year’s Six bowl game.

And what a stellar game throughout it was for the Tigers’ defense. The offense needed three quarters to find life, but it eventually that happened, too.

The result: a 14-3 Cotton Bowl victory for Missouri on Friday night in Arlington, Texas.

Here are our grades from Mizzou’s appearance at AT&T Stadium:

Missouri’s offense

It wasn’t the best day at the office for Missouri’s offense.

The Tigers punted eight times in the first three quarters. They struggled to get their running game going ... and couldn’t.

But, on a day when the MU defense was playing at such a high level, all Missouri needed to do was score once or twice. MU got that done in the fourth quarter.

A 49-yard deep shot to Marquis Johnson ignited the offense. Finally, movement. That led to a 7-yard touchdown run by Cody Schrader. Finally, the lead.

The offense’s job is to gain yards and put up points. But against a defense as good as Ohio State’s, that assignment simplifies to just gaining yards by any means possible.

Missouri found a way to do that when it mattered most.

Grade: C

Missouri’s defense

If there ever was a time for Missouri to show that its defense is elite, it was Friday night.

The Tigers did so.

Defensive coordinator Blake Baker was aggressive early with his blitzes, and it paid off as MU limited Ohio State to three points in the first half. His usage of the Tigers’ defensive backs on blitzes led to negative plays and sacks.

The Tigers’ defense bent slightly to the likes TreVeyon Henderson, but it didn’t come close to breaking.

The Buckeyes’ offense had to adjust after quarterback Devin Brown went down with an injury. They primarily ran the football with true freshman Lincoln Kienholz in at quarterback. That continued into the second half — Ohio State didn’t attempt many passing plays.

Still, with the Tigers’ offense struggling, the pressure was on the MU defense to keep it a one-score game and give the offense time to figure out how to move the ball.

Bottom line: Mizzou’s defense rose to the occasion on the biggest stage of the season. It was fitting that Daylan Carnell’s strip-sack with 3 minutes, 13 seconds left sealed the Tigers’ victory.

Grade: A

Missouri defensive backs

Against perhaps their toughest challenge of the season, and undoubtedly on their biggest stage yet, the Tigers’ secondary played an extremely physical game.

Carnell was everywhere with big hits; he registered four on the Buckeyes’ quarterbacks. Sidney Williams was effective in both coverage and run defense at the STAR position. Kris Abrams-Draine was inches away from multiple interceptions — his coverage on Ohio State’s receivers anchored the Tigers’ defense.

Jaylon Carlies led the Tigers in tackles and had an early sack.

Missouri’s most talented position showed out in the Cotton Bowl.

Grade: A

Missouri’s wide receivers

The Tigers’ receivers didn’t have much to write home about in the first half. The offense struggled as a whole, and the receivers did little to lift Missouri out of that funk.

In the second half, however, those MU receivers were a big reason why the Tigers eventually hoisted a Cotton Bowl trophy.

Marquis Johnson got it started with a 49-yard reception near the end of the third quarter. The big play energized the offense and led to MU’s first touchdown.

Theo Wease showed up in the fourth quarter, too. He recorded a first down in a third-and-long situation while taking a big hit. Then he showed off his awareness: When Ohio State’s offensive line jumped offside, Wease took off and hauled in a 31-yard pass from Brady Cook on the free play.

The MU receivers’ blocking allowed Cody Schrader to eclipse the 100-yard mark in the fourth quarter. That set up Luther Burden’s touchdown catch.

Schrader, by the way, finished with 128 yards and a touchdown on 29 workmanlike carries.

Grade: B

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