Missouri Football: Grading the Tigers' Game vs. Oklahoma

The Missouri Tigers jumped out to a 14-3 lead against the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday night.

Then, things started to fall apart.

But, the fact is there were a lot of good signs from Mizzou as they gave the Sooners their biggest scare of the season.

In two weeks, the Tigers travel to play Kansas State.

But, for now, let’s take a look back and grade Mizzou’s performance against Oklahoma.

Quarterback: A

James Franklin continues to get better every week, and that’s all you can really ask from a first year starting quarterback.

He threw for 291 yards and a touchdown against a very tough Oklahoma defense.

He also torched the Sooners with 103 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

He accounted for 394 yards of total offense, which isn’t bad at all.

Running Backs: A

Henry Josey had another huge game against Oklahoma.

Following last week’s 263-yard first half performance, Josey added 133 yards and a touchdown on just 14 carries against the Sooners.

He’s becoming one of the top running backs in the country and should be fun to watch for the next couple years.

Receivers: B+

T.J. Moe got his season going in a big way on Saturday night, catching seven passes for 119 yards on the night.

L’Damian Washington continues to emerge as a big play wide receiver. He had a 45-yard touchdown catch on Saturday.

But, Michael Egnew was once again invisible in the offense. He had just two catches for only 40 yards and no touchdowns.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this offense would be so much better if the coaches and Franklin got Egnew more involved.

Offensive Line: B+

The O-line only allowed two sacks on the night, which isn’t bad given the Sooners’ strong defense.

They also opened up plenty of lanes for Josey and Franklin to run through.

It was a good effort and gives them something to build on for the rest of the season.

Defensive Line: D

The defense didn’t record a single sack on Saturday night, and that starts with poor defensive line play.

The linebackers didn’t get any either, but with a D-line featuring Jacquies Smith and Brad Madison, some pressure should be put on the QB.

Unfortunately for Mizzou fans, it wasn’t, and that cost the Tigers dearly.

Linebackers: B-

The linebacking corps had another strong effort against the run.

The Sooners’ top RB only had 68 yards on the game, while the Tigers had two rushers eclipse the 100-yard mark.

Zaviar Gooden led the unit with eight tackles on the night.

Mizzou has a pretty good run defense this season and it should continue to improve as the season wears on.

Secondary: C+

We’ll start with the good news: the Tigers’ secondary picked off Landry Jones twice on Saturday night.

Now to the bad news: the Tigers’ secondary allowed Jones to throw for 448 yards and three touchdowns.

It’s not all the secondary’s fault though. As mentioned before, it’s hard to succeed as a defense when the D-line doesn’t get any pressure on the quarterback.

So, while it wasn’t their best effort, the secondary does deserve a little bit of credit for forcing a couple turnovers.

Special Teams: D

Grant Ressel is normally one of the best placekickers in the country, but he’s been struggling mightily this season.

He missed a pair of 46-yard field goals against Oklahoma, adding to his season-long slump.

Elsewhere, kickoff returns were average and there were no punt returns.

The lone bright spot on special teams was punter Trey Barrow, whose big leg continues to ensure that the Tigers win the field position battle more often than not.

Coaching: B+

Gary Pinkel and his coaching staff had a good game plan for the No. 1 team in the country.

After a strong first quarter, the Sooners began to figure it out.

But, if the defense could have held up just a little bit better, the Tigers could have won this game. Now though, they’ll have to settle for hanging with a very tough Oklahoma team.

Intangibles: B

The offense held on to the football and Franklin didn’t throw any stupid interceptions, so it was a good game fundamentally.

Better tackling on defense would have helped a little bit, but it wasn’t a bad effort overall.

The Tigers need to continue to limit their mistakes and they’ll be fine for the rest of the season.