Should Mizzou have gone with Sam Horn anyway? 10 thoughts from the win over Vanderbilt

A win is a win.

Missouri football has the right to celebrate finally getting over the hump with a 17-14 victory over Vanderbilt.

But it's hard to be completely satisfied.

Here are 10 thoughts from Saturday's Homecoming win over the Commodores at Faurot Field.

1. This was a chance for Mizzou to inspire confidence.

Eli Drinkwitz had a plan. He had it written in the plan to play true freshman quarterback Sam Horn when Missouri felt comfortable enough to take its time with a comfortable lead.

“I thought at 17-0 we were going to potentially get a couple of scores in the third quarter and then have a chance to play him,” Drinkwitz said. “The best-laid plans of mice and men kind of played out there.”

Drinkwitz was expecting to pull away from Vanderbilt, especially once MU took a 14-0 lead and went on multiple drives into Commodore territory.

Missouri's offense squandered those opportunities.

It's not as simple as Missouri being a boom-or-bust team, seeing as the two MU touchdowns were set up by gains of 29 yards and 46 yards, respectively. Luther Burden's first score was a quick toss he took 35 yards to the house.

The Tigers drove to the Vanderbilt 18- and 20-yard line in the second half. Those drives ended in a fumble and a missed field goal. Vanderbilt also missed two field goals. The Commodores were a good kicker from forcing Missouri's offense to win the game, as opposed to having the Tigers' defense win the game.

The offense should have put the Commodores down confidently. Instead, it spotted Vanderbilt seven points, turned the ball over four times and put the pressure on the defense again.

Missouri fans should be grateful the defense was the unit tasked with putting the game away.

But it's hard to be confident in a team that can't take advantage of struggling Vanderbilt.

2. Should Mizzou have turned to Sam Horn anyway?

This was the toughest part of watching Saturday.

Cook had another terrible turnover, but he also completed 68% of his passes and amassed over 200 yards. There was no real and immediate need to switch quarterbacks. He was also playing behind a struggling offensive line.

But would Horn have lifted Missouri to the kind of lead Drinkwitz was looking for? Against Florida, Auburn and Georgia, probably not. Against Vanderbilt, it's fair to wonder.

The Commodores' defensive backs struggled Saturday. The likes of Burden are tough to tackle as it is; he shed basically the entire secondary on his 35-yard touchdown. Horn could have found success against the Vanderbilt secondary. The Commodores are struggling that much.

There was a chance to see Horn in the first half, Drinkwitz said. But after leading MU to a two-touchdown lead, it's hard to argue that Cook didn't deserve a shot to lead that last-minute drive in the second quarter.

"We had talked about getting him in early, but I just felt like with the 14-0 start and again, then we got the ball back with about a minute left," Drinkwitz said. "It was really Brady's drive right there."

In the second half, though, Missouri's offense couldn't score — and not for a lack of chances. It's hard to see Horn making a difference in that gambit since the offensive line was struggling so much and the turnovers were on parts of the team aside from the quarterback.

If Cook had a full-on meltdown, that would have been a reason to swap. But without that reason, why burn one of Horn's redshirt games when the quarterback doesn't need to change?

That moment is coming. Saturday wasn't it.

3. Still, there's something to be said for Mizzou finishing the job. Drinkwitz attested to this.

It was only Vanderbilt. It was still a win.

Missouri critically needs to win games if it wants to earn a bowl berth, and it started with Vanderbilt.

"It don't matter," Drinkwitz said. "It's a win. We needed a win and it's something that we can build off of."

MU also needed to give its fan base something. It should have celebrated wins over Auburn, Georgia and Florida, or at the very least one of those three.

If there ever was a time to deliver, it was in front of 60,000 on Homecoming. It was a must-win game to earn a bowl berth, but it was also a must-win in terms of rewarding a patient fan base and proving the Tigers can get the job done.

"This is the biggest crowd that I've been a part of on Homecoming, and there's so many great things about Homecoming and the tradition and this university and this fan base, and our team wanted to win for them," Drinkwitz said. "Again, I get it, there's going to be all kinds of armchair quarterbacks.

"At the end of the day, we just gave ourselves a chance to continue to fight for what our goal is now, which is to earn a bowl berth, and we had to win this one to get that done."

4. At some point, Cook needs to show he's better than his SEC play indicates.

Of the four interceptions Cook has thrown in SEC play, Saturday's first-quarter interception was arguably the worst.

When asked about Cook's interception, Drinkwitz just shook his head a bit before he answered. He collected his thoughts. Then he spoke bluntly about his quarterback's error.

"He's got to run or throw the ball away," Drinkwitz said, wiping the front of his face. "... Don't ever put it in jeopardy and don't be cute. We were too cute with it."

Cook looked downfield, refocused on Cody Schrader and threw it to the back when Schrader wasn't even looking. Anfernee Orji needed to make a play, and he did. Against Auburn and Florida, those turnovers resulted in touchdowns that ended up deciding the game.

Luckily, Missouri was playing Vanderbilt.

So far, Cook is 1-3 as a starting quarterback in the SEC. He's thrown two touchdowns: one against Georgia to Tyler Stephens and the other to Burden, though the touchdown to Burden was more of a "get it to your best guy and let him work" touchdown. It counts for Cook, but Burden did 95% of the work.

There came a point where Connor Bazelak wore out his welcome with Drinkwitz last year. It came against South Carolina. Missouri travels to the other Columbia to play the Gamecocks this coming weekend. It's worth wondering whether a similar moment could happen that shifts the course of this season.

5. The fact Drinkwitz has Horn on his mind is telling.

Horn is the future. He's expected to be the guy who takes over and leads this team eventually.

The line that caught my attention was when Drinkwitz discussed Horn postgame, where he talked about why he had those reps planned out.

"He needs them. He's earned them," Drinkwitz said. "He's got the opportunity to do it."

Not just earned the reps. He needs them. He needs them because he's going to be the guy eventually and he's going to need to be as ready as possible.

I still think we see Horn at some point this year. Not sure where or how anymore. I thought we'd see him against Vanderbilt, and there's certainly a chance to see him against a porous New Mexico State.

The MU offensive line has allowed 11 tackles for loss and three sacks, and Cook's running decisions have put him at the mercy of hard-hitting linebackers.

"The way Brady's getting hit right now, we've got to be ready," Drinkwitz said. "I mean, we're not going to survive a quarterback getting free shots like that."

The Tigers won't survive a quarterback that keeps making disastrous turnovers, either.

6. If Drinkwitz has all the pieces to fix Mizzou's problems, it's time to find what fits.

There's much to fix for Missouri's offense. There's the offensive line, the play-calling, the individual decision-making and turnovers. Drinkwitz said it all can turn around sooner as opposed to later.

"Everything's fixable this season," Drinkwitz said.

Special teams has to be aware when a kickoff takes a bad bounce and just hop on the ball. Nathaniel Peat can't fumble the ball in the red zone. Cook can't be trying to force a play that isn't there. Drinkwitz can cut out some of the long-developing end-around plays resulting in negative yards.

Drinkwitz mentioned riding the hot hand at running back. He did so with Schrader, who led the Tigers with 84 yards on 14 carries. Peat still got 11 carries. You can argue a few more should have gone to Schrader, who was the better runner Saturday.

But the offensive line still needs to find a combination that works.

Armand Membou got more reps Saturday at right tackle, rotating with Connor Wood. The young offensive lineman is getting his chances with some of the struggles, and he could solve a lot of problems if he can play consistently.

"We just feel like he's earned the opportunity to play and compete," Drinkwitz said. "We just wanted to give him some reps at the true tackle position, too. We'll have to see how we did."

It helps to get Xavier Delgado back, but the consistency with the group is proving to be a growing concern.

7. Kris Abrams-Draine is playing himself into some money.

Say what you will about Vanderbilt, but Will Sheppard is a good player. He's a consistent receiver and one of the best talents on the Commodores' roster.

Kris Abrams-Draine swallowed him. Sheppard was blanketed to the point where Vanderbilt schemed routes to get him the ball, and when the 'Dores did that, Sheppard was nailed by safety Joseph Charleston.

Sheppard was targeted 14 times. He caught only three passes.

Drinkwitz was asked to sell Abrams-Draine after the game to NFL scouts, a question he responded to by saying, "I don't need to sell my players."

He's right. Abrams-Draine did all the talking himself on the field. Aside from a bad angle, where he turned Gamarion Carter inside and Carter weaved his way to an 80-yard score, Abrams-Draine was perhaps the best defender on the field among both teams.

That kind of game is what earns him looks from NFL teams. Scouts from the New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars were among the teams present Saturday at Faurot Field.

Stacking games like that is what will earn Abrams-Draine some serious NFL money.

8. Don't overlook Jaylon Carlies, either.

In Carlies' Missouri career, he's recorded six interceptions. That's all come in a season and a half as a starter.

That career interception total is the most by a Missouri defender since Cale Garrett intercepted six passes in his career from 2016 to 2019.

Carlies is second on the team in tackles with 40, sitting behind Ty'Ron Hopper. He leads the team in interceptions, too. He's proving he's an all-around safety for this team.

He's just another player benefitting from defensive coordinator Blake Baker's system. But a system player is different than a major playmaker, which is what Carlies is.

9. If a bowl game is the goal, Missouri's immediate path got harder.

Texas A&M was 8-0 against South Carolina before Saturday night. Shane Beamer changed that.

With a 30-24 win in the other Columbia, the Gamecocks improved to 5-2 and earned a spot in The Associated Press Top 25. MU travels to South Carolina this coming weekend.

This continues the winding path Missouri must navigate to earn a bowl game.

The second half of Missouri's season now includes three ranked teams: No. 25 South Carolina, No. 19 Kentucky and No. 3 Tennessee. Assuming Missouri wins against New Mexico State, the Tigers will still need to get two more wins.

One of those two must come against one of the ranked teams.

10. This week proved a reminder there are bigger things than football.

Around the SEC, teams played with a helmet decal honoring the late Sam Westmoreland. He was an 18-year-old offensive lineman at Mississippi State who passed away last week.

It was a small, white sticker that read "SW 78" in block letters. It was a part of a week that reminded us about the humanity behind the sport. Especially the grief in losing a member of a brotherhood.

Missouri linebacker Chad Bailey felt it, too. Former MU player Terry Petry passed away last week. Bailey and Petry overlapped at Ridge Point in Missouri City, Texas, as well as at Missouri.

"Rest in peace, Terry Petry," Bailey said Saturday. "I love you, man."

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: 10 thoughts from the win over Vanderbilt