Pourover: Missouri keeps the focus on themselves

Perhaps Josh said it best in his 5 takeaways, the Missouri Tigers 52-10 win over Louisiana was an exercise in ‘taking care of business’.

Each season has to play out fully before we gain an understanding of the significance of any single win. Mizzou looked shaky at times in their week one win over Central Arkansas, they had a very forgettable 1st quarter against Kansas, but the win over Louisiana was sheer dominance. We don’t know what the Cajuns will look like the rest of their season, they are starting

a freshman quarterback after their presumed starter, Ole Miss transfer Walker Howard, went down with an injury early this season. But the program is still a proud one with four double digit win seasons in their last 6, including 10 wins just last year.

The Louisiana offense gained just 121 yards of offense on 36 plays, with Zylan Perry’s 84 yard scamper being included in that tally. Take away Perry’s touchdown run and there were 35 offensive plays and 37 yards of offense. In the third quarter alone Louisiana ran just 6 plays for -2 yards.

That’s defensive dominance.

On offense, Missouri was efficient. 86 plays, 42 minutes of possession, 606 yards gained, including 427 yards on the ground. 10.5 yards per completion, of which there were 17. 6.9 yards per rush, on 62 attempts. It took 27 plays before Missouri failed to gain yardage on an offensive play from scrimmage. By that point it was 28-0 and the message was sent. Sure there was an interception which set up a Field Goal, and shortly there after was Perry’s touchdown run.

Missouri wasn’t perfect, but they were dominant.

We’ve now watched three games where Missouri has been the much better team for the bulk of the game. I’ll give KU the 1st quarter — even if I think that was more the result of the random nature of the game — but the last three quarters were about the Tigers. We’ll learn more about how quality these wins have been as the season wears on. The players don’t get to pick the opponents, they show up and play. And they’ve done all you can ask of them so far.

You get to this place by not worrying about who you’re playing on the field, but focusing on you. It doesn’t matter if the player in front of you is a potential 1st round draft pick or a guy hanging on the back end of an FCS roster, do your job and win the battle. If each player approaches it that way, you end up with games like this one. And much of the past three. Focus on yourself, be the best you can be, let the rest work itself out.

It’s important to keep this mindset each and every week. Because in watching the results around the rest of college football play out, we’re seeing a real opportunity for Missouri.

South Carolina comes into Columbia next week with a whole lot of question marks. Their inflated ranking has been based largely on the Heisman quality quarterback LaNorris Sellers, who may not even be available after getting a possible concussion against Vanderbilt. Sellers left that game, didn’t return, and Vandy tightened the screws on the Gamecocks in Columbia, winning 31-7.

South Carolina struggled against Virginia Tech, didn’t exactly put South Carolina State away, and got crushed by Vanderbilt. On top of potentially missing Sellers, star Defensive Lineman Dylan Stewart might also miss the first half after getting ejected late in the second half.

Missouri should be the favorite regardless if Sellers plays or not. But being the favorite doesn’t matter if you don’t do what’s required, focus on yourself and controlling what you can, and getting a win to start 4-0.