Brady Cook passed for one touchdown and ran for another as the Missouri Tigers opened their season with a 35-10 victory over the South Dakota Coyotes on Thursday in Columbia, Mo.
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz used the game to extend his quarterback competition. Cook completed 17 of 21 passes for 172 yards and ran for 17 more.
Sam Horn replaced him for the second half and completed 3 of 5 passes for 54 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Luther Burden caught seven passes for 96 yards and a touchdown and Mekhi Miller caught two passes for 49 yards and a TD for the Tigers (1-0).
Cody Schrader rushed for 148 yards and a touchdown for Missouri and Nathaniel Peat totaled 86 rushing and receiving yards and one TD.
Aidan Bouman completed 15 of 25 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown for the Coyotes (0-1).
Missouri outrushed South Dakota 221-38 and built a 447-194 advantage in total yards.
The Tigers took a 7-0 lead on their second possession of the game, on Cook’s 18-yard pass to Miller.
Missouri converted a partially blocked punt into a short field and a 14-0 lead on its next possession. Peat moved the ball with runs of 6, 13, 8 and 5 yards before scoring from the 1-yard line to cap a 38-yard drive.
South Dakota’s Will Leyland hit a 40-yard field goal with 7:06 left in the second quarter to cut Missouri’s lead to 14-3.
The Tigers countered with an 81-yard drive with Schrader rushing the ball eight times for 52 yards and a touchdown. He scored from 2 yards out as Missouri increased its lead to 21-3.
Missouri needed just 52 seconds to move 83 yards and tack on another touchdown with 33 seconds left in the first half. Cook completed passes of 30 yards to Burden and 15 yards to Peat to advance the ball, then he finished the drive with a 15-yard TD run on a quarterback draw.
Myles Harden put South Dakota into scoring position with his interception and 23-yard return with 13:22 left to play. The Coyotes capitalized with Bouman’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Mike Mansaray to trim Missouri’s lead to 28-10.
Missouri capped its scoring with Horn’s 15-yard TD pass to Burden with 1:42 left to play.
–Field Level Media