Missouri Football: Grading the Tigers' Performance Against Texas A&M

Going into last Saturday’s game against the No. 16 Texas A&M Aggies, the Missouri Tigers desperately needed a win to keep their bowl hopes alive.

They entered the game with a disappointing 3-4 record and not much momentum, following a loss to Oklahoma State.

But James Franklin and company played their best game of the season and pulled off a 38-31 overtime upset in College Station.

This was just the win the Tigers needed to build momentum for the rest of the season, with games against Baylor, Texas, Texas Tech and Kansas left on the schedule.

Let’s take a look back at how the Tigers performed in Saturday’s game.

Quarterback: A

James Franklin had the best game of his young career against the Aggies on Saturday.

He completed 16-of-24 passes for 198 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also added 97 rushing yards and another two touchdowns, including an impressive 20-yard touchdown run.

If he can build off of this and continue to play at this level, the Tigers will win a lot of games in the coming years.

Running Backs: A

Henry Josey continued to make running the football look easy, despite playing against one of the nation’s top run defenses.

Josey had 162 yards and a touchdown on just 20 carries.

He’s becoming one of the best running backs in Mizzou history and, along with Franklin, will make Mizzou a formidable opponent in the coming years.

Receivers: B+

The receivers had a pretty decent day to go along with Franklin’s great day.

Marcus Lucas continues to emerge as Franklin’s favorite receiver, leading the team in receiving yards and catching a touchdown on Saturday.

Michael Egnew had another average day, as did T.J. Moe, Blaine Gabbert’s favorite targets from the 2010 season.

Offensive Line: A-

The O-Line held a tough Aggie defensive front to just two sacks on the game.

That was a huge reason Franklin was able to complete so many of his passes.

Then, in the running game, the line opened plenty of holes for Franklin and Josey to run through.

Defensive Line: B-

The D-Line only got one sack on the day.

But, Dominique Hamilton recovered a fumble, and Jacquies Smith forced two fumbles.

Overall, the unit allowed a lot of yards to the Aggie offense, but managed to hold them to few enough points to give the offense a chance to win the game in regulation and eventually, in overtime.

Linebackers: B-

The linebackers had a pretty average day as well.

Luke Lambert recovered another fumble, continuing his impressive fumble-recovering ways this season.

But, they allowed 198 rushing yards on the day, so it wasn’t as dominant as previous performances.

Secondary: A

Yes, Ryan Tannehill had more than 300 passing yards and three touchdowns, but the secondary made big plays when it mattered most.

Randy Ponder had a big interception to start the fourth quarter that eventually turned into a Missouri touchdown.

The secondary also managed to stop the Aggies on their first overtime possession, clinching a win for the Tigers.

Special Teams: B

Trey Barrow handled all of the kicking duties on Saturday and did a good job for the most part.

He did miss a field goal that would have won the game for the Tigers at the end of regulation, so it wasn’t all good.

But, you can’t fault him for missing a 46-yard field goal in a high-pressure situation when he hasn’t been the regular placekicker at all during college.

Coaching: B

Gary Pinkel and his staff did a good job of managing the game.

They had the Tigers in a position to win the game at the end of the fourth quarter, and that’s all you can really ask for from a coach.

Pinkel pushed most of the right buttons en route to an impressive road upset of the No. 16 team in the country.

Intangibles: B

The Tigers did a good job holding onto the ball and not beating themselves.

They limited turnovers, didn’t drop many passes and had decent tackling.

If they can keep up this level of play in the coming weeks, they could pull off a couple upsets along the way.